Sponsors (5)
The bill invests modest federal funding to expand use of domestically grown produce in school meals and to boost market access for small and Tribal producers, improving child nutrition and local farm markets, but it does so at a modest federal cost and with administrative set‑asides and participation risks that could limit nationwide impact.
Children in K–12 schools and school meal programs will receive increased access to domestically grown unprocessed fruits and vegetables through a permanent program funded at $25 million per year, expanding fresh-produce served in meals.
Small, local, socially disadvantaged, and Tribal producers gain prioritized consideration in State selection, increasing their market opportunities and potential revenue from supplying school meal programs.
Participating States receive dedicated administrative and technical-assistance funding (at least $500,000 each), lowering implementation barriers and helping schools and local governments run procurement and distribution effectively.
Taxpayers will incur a budgetary cost of $125 million total over FY2026–FY2030 to fund the program.
An administrative reservation of $10 million reduces the funds available for direct produce procurement, which could limit the volume of fruits and vegetables purchased for school meals and blunt the program's direct nutrition impact.
If fewer than 14 States participate, nonparticipating States are limited to $1 million reserved for technical assistance—an amount that may be insufficient to scale up participation nationwide, risking uneven access for students and producers across States.
Based on analysis of 2 sections of legislative text.
Converts a school-foods pilot into a permanent program to buy domestic unprocessed fruits/vegetables, sets equity-focused selection criteria, and funds $25M/year for FY2026–2030.
Introduced September 9, 2025 by Pramila Jayapal · Last progress September 9, 2025
Converts the existing pilot project that buys domestically grown unprocessed fruits and vegetables for school meals into an ongoing federal program, updates how States are selected, and adds factors favoring small, local, socially disadvantaged, and Tribal producers. It requires program evaluation and reporting, and provides mandatory funding of $25 million per year for FY2026–FY2030 with specific set-asides and minimum State allotments. The measure also reserves funds for technical assistance if fewer than 14 States participate in a year, increases the required number of projects per location, and requires an evaluation within two years and a congressional report within four years.