[Congressional Bills 112th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 1722 Introduced in House (IH)]

112th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                H. R. 1722

 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to create a 
                       local food credit program.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                              May 4, 2011

Ms. Pingree of Maine (for herself, Mr. Connolly of Virginia, Mr. Stark, 
 Mr. Welch, and Mr. McGovern) introduced the following bill; which was 
        referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to create a 
                       local food credit program.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Eat Local Foods Act''.

SEC. 2. LOCAL FOOD CREDIT PROGRAM.

    Section 6(c) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act 
(42 U.S.C. 1755(c)) is amended by adding at the end the following:
            ``(3) Local food credit program.--
                    ``(A) Establishment of program.--Beginning with the 
                school year ending in 2013, the Secretary shall 
                establish and carry out a program under which the 
                Secretary, not later than the beginning of each school 
                year, shall provide a grant to each participating State 
                agency to provide to each participating school food 
                authority under the jurisdiction of the State agency, 
                local food credits in an amount equal to not more than 
                10 percent of the total value of the commodity 
                assistance (or cash payments in lieu thereof) that the 
                authority would be eligible to receive under paragraph 
                (2) for such school year, in lieu of such amount of 
                commodity assistance (or cash payments in lieu 
                thereof).
                    ``(B) Requirements for participating school food 
                authorities.--Each participating school food authority 
                shall--
                            ``(i) use the local food credit received 
                        under this paragraph to purchase local foods to 
                        be served under the school lunch program in 
                        schools under the jurisdiction of the 
                        authority;
                            ``(ii) keep records of purchases made with 
                        such assistance; and
                            ``(iii) provide such records to the 
                        Secretary in such manner and such form as 
                        established by the Secretary.
                    ``(C) Authorized use of funds.--A participating 
                school food authority may use up to 10 percent of the 
                local food credit received under this paragraph for a 
                school year to purchase local foods to be served under 
                the school lunch program during the following school 
                year.
                    ``(D) Minimum commodity purchases.--The amount of a 
                grant made under this paragraph for a school year shall 
                count towards the Secretary's commodity assistance or 
                commodity requirements under subsection (e) for such 
                school year.
                    ``(E) Definitions.--For purposes of this paragraph:
                            ``(i) Local foods.--The term `local foods' 
                        means has the meaning given the term `locally 
                        or regionally produced agricultural food 
                        products' in section 310B(g)(9)(A) of the 
                        Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 
                        U.S.C. 1932(g)(A)).
                            ``(ii) Local food credit.--The term `local 
                        food credits' means cash, letters of credit, or 
                        another form of assistance, determined by the 
                        Secretary.
                            ``(iii) Participating school food 
                        authority.--The term `participating school food 
                        authority' means a school food authority that--
                                    ``(I) participates in the school 
                                lunch program under this Act; and
                                    ``(II) elects to participate in the 
                                local food credit program under this 
                                paragraph.
                            ``(iv) Participating state agency.--The 
                        term `participating State agency' means a State 
                        agency that--
                                    ``(I) participating in the school 
                                lunch program under this Act; and
                                    ``(II) elects to participate in the 
                                local food credit program under this 
                                paragraph.''.
                                 <all>