Florida Farm Bill aims to rein in labeling on milk alternatives

Florida lawmakers will consider putting an end to the use of fluoride in drinking water, banning use of the word “milk” to describe plant-based alternatives and address many agricultural concerns currently impacting the state’s farmers.

Florida Agriculture Commissioner Wilton Simpson told the Herald-Tribune the Florida Farm Bill addresses health concerns about fluoride in water supplies, milk-alternative labeling, eliminating “red tape” for gun owners, and issues with drones for hunters.

Simpson also called on President Donald Trump and federal politicians to follow Florida’s lead and pass a national farm bill that is long overdue. He says a lack of action at the federal level has hampered the nation’s agriculture for years.

“There are many challenges in the agriculture community, mostly affecting our small farmers,” Simpson said. “Housing affordability and access to labor are big challenges. Mother Nature — we’ve had many hurricanes over the last few years that have been a major challenge to agriculture.

“When you think what is really hurting agriculture, there has not been a federal farm bill done in seven years,” he said. “You have a lot of Congress people talking about the farm bill but they never seem to get it done. They’re supposed to redo the farm bill every five years… So they haven’t gotten a farm bill done to give farmers relief they need from all of those different storms and natural disasters; there’s a lot of challenges that we have.”

Quick look: 10 highlights from the 2025 Florida Farm Bill

The 2025 Florida Farm Bill aims to address concerns affecting the agricultural community, and consumers at large. It will be considered during the upcoming legislative session, which kicks off March 4.

• Prohibit the addition of any non-water quality additives into the public water supply, such as fluoride. The proposal will not completely remove the option of fluoridated water, as private water producers will still be permitted to sell water that includes fluoride as a way of providing Florida consumers with the choice on whether they would like to consume fluoridated water.
• Prohibit the labeling of plant-based products as “milk” or “meat” or “poultry.”
• Prohibit the use of drones on lands classified as agricultural without the property owner’s approval. The measure also prohibits drone use on or near private property, state hunting lands, or shooting ranges with the intent to harass.
• Prohibits charitable organizations from collecting or soliciting donations from “Foreign Countries of Concern.”
• Updates Florida’s concealed weapon licenses process to expedite the return of guns to owners accused of crimes that would not disqualify them from gun ownership or possession.
• Eliminates the loophole for the sale of psychedelic mushrooms by making it illegal to transport spores capable of producing them at any point during their life stage.
• Establishes a grant program for fiscally constrained counties and areas along evacuation routes to purchase generator power switches for fuel stations.
• Creates a state felony for stealing checks out of mailboxes from Florida homes and businesses.
• Would end sustainable lending practices that considers a borrower’s environmental, social, and governance (ESG) impact to support businesses based on a track record of environmental sustainability.
• Returns the decision for solar farms on agricultural land to local government.

Assuring consumers that nuts don’t ‘Got Milk’

If approved, the 2025 Farm Bill would prevent plant-based food alternatives to use the terms “milk,” “meat” or “poultry” as a part of product branding. The matter has been a heated topic of discussion among agricultural circles for years.

The U.S. Department of Agriculture issued non-binding draft guidance in 2023 that was met with heavy criticism by those who oppose the use of the word “milk” to describe alternatives. The USDA opined that the terms “milk,” “beverage,” or “drink” could be used to describe a plant-based alternative as long as phrasing includes the the original plant source.

In a blog post published in 2020, the American Vegan Society argued that nuts have been used to make nut “milk” in the U.S. since the time of the Native Americans, and that the society rejects “the cattle-industry barons’ ownership of the term.”

Simpson called the practice confusing to customers because the plant-based products are not derived from milk. He said the proposal is a means of supporting Florida dairy farmers in the ongoing tussle over the term.

“This year’s farm bill is looking to protect how we label things to our citizens to make sure that they can see that there’s a real difference here,” he said. “Just because something looks like a piece of meat or look like it’s milk does not make it milk, and our farmers have a tough time fighting the perception of that as you continue to get advertisements, ‘Oh, look at this great almond milk,’ or look at this other type of product that are not really those things.”

Addressing the housing crisis for agricultural workers

The 2025 farm legislation also proposes steps to address a housing crisis for agricultural labor workers.

Simpson said that contrary to common belief, undocumented immigrants do not make up the bulk of the agricultural workers in Florida. He said improvements to the federal H-2A program — which allows American agricultural employers to legally hire foreign workers to temporarily fill seasonal agricultural jobs — that include options to build housing for temporary workers on agricultural property could be a key piece of the puzzle.

“Less than 5 percent of people who are here illegally work in the agriculture industry,” Simpson said. “They primarily work in large cities in hospitality-type jobs. Construction jobs. Things of that nature. So it’s a very small concern for agriculture.

“But, nonetheless, we should be allowed to build H2A housing at our farms to be able to bring in that labor as we need it for the season that we’re in,” he said. During whatever season is approaching, we should be able to have ample labor to work on that farm and move around the country freely. … That is a big deal that we will be working on this year, the housing crisis that we’re having not only in the state of Florida but something that should be done all over the nation.”

This article originally appeared on Sarasota Herald-Tribune. Reporting by Jesse Mendoza, Sarasota Herald-Tribune