[Congressional Bills 118th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7748 Introduced in House (IH)]

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118th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7748

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish 
   a pilot program promoting scratch cooking in school meal programs.


_______________________________________________________________________


                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                             March 20, 2024

Mrs. Hayes (for herself, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Ms. Brownley) 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 establish 
   a pilot program promoting scratch cooking in school meal programs.

    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 ``Scratch Cooked Meals for Students 
Act''.

SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR GRANTS PROMOTING SCRATCH COOKING IN SCHOOL 
              MEAL PROGRAMS.

    Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 
U.S.C. 1769) is amended by inserting before subsection (b) the 
following new subsection:
    ``(a) Scratch Cooking Pilot Program.--
            ``(1) In general.--
                    ``(A) Establishment.--Not later than 180 days after 
                the date of the enactment of this subsection, the 
                Secretary shall establish a pilot program to award 
                competitive grants to school food authorities to 
                promote scratch cooking.
                    ``(B) Scratch cooking defined.--In this subsection, 
                the term `scratch cooking' means the preparation of 
                food using ingredients that are unprocessed or 
                minimally processed.
            ``(2) Grant amounts and duration.--A grant awarded under 
        this subsection shall be made for a period of 2 school years.
            ``(3) Eligible uses.--A grant awarded under this subsection 
        shall be used by a school food authority to promote scratch 
        cooking, which may include--
                    ``(A) promoting professional development and 
                training related to preparing, procuring, advertising, 
                serving, and creating menus of meals made with scratch 
                cooking;
                    ``(B) purchasing cafeteria equipment or making 
                infrastructure modifications necessary for scratch 
                cooking;
                    ``(C) employee compensation for additional food 
                preparation necessary for scratch cooking;
                    ``(D) providing technical assistance, pupil 
                engagement, and education related to scratch cooking, 
                such as taste tests, recipe development, and culinary 
                education;
                    ``(E) investing in software and technology systems 
                for procurement to support scratch cooking; and
                    ``(F) carrying out any additional activities to 
                promote scratch cooking that will help school food 
                authorities meet or exceed the nutrition standards for 
                the school lunch program authorized under this Act and 
                the school breakfast program established by section 4 
                of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).
            ``(4) Priority.--In evaluating grant applications under 
        this subsection, the Secretary shall give the highest priority 
        to school food authorities that--
                    ``(A) serve the greatest proportion of students 
                eligible for free or reduced price lunch under this 
                Act;
                    ``(B) are--
                            ``(i) self-operated; or
                            ``(ii) provide an assurance to the 
                        Secretary that the school food authority will 
                        be self-operated on or before the date that is 
                        1 year before the last day of the grant period; 
                        and
                    ``(C) either--
                            ``(i) have employees who are represented by 
                        a collective bargaining agreement or memorandum 
                        of understanding, if such employees are 
                        permitted by law to be so represented; or
                            ``(ii) provide an assurance to the 
                        Secretary that the school food authority will, 
                        with respect to the employees of such school 
                        food authority, negotiate a collective 
                        bargaining agreement or memorandum of 
                        understanding on or before the date that is 1 
                        year before the last day of the grant period.
            ``(5) Technical assistance.--
                    ``(A) In general.--The Secretary shall enter into 
                an agreement with one or more nonprofit organizations 
                to establish and carry out a technical assistance and 
                resource center to provide technical assistance with 
                respect to carrying out subparagraphs (A) through (C) 
                of paragraph (3).
                    ``(B) Collaboration requirement.--As soon as 
                practicable after receiving a grant under this 
                subsection, a school food authority shall collaborate 
                with the technical assistance and resource center 
                established under subparagraph (A) to--
                            ``(i) conduct a needs assessment to 
                        evaluate equipment needs, equipment 
                        utilization, procurement processes, and 
                        workforce capabilities of the school food 
                        authority; and
                            ``(ii) based on such needs assessment, 
                        establish a strategic plan to carry out the 
                        grant under this subsection.
            ``(6) Report.--Not later than 180 days after the conclusion 
        of the grant period described in paragraph (2), each school 
        food authority that receives a grant under this subsection 
        shall submit to the Secretary a report that includes, with 
        respect to such school food authority, the change at the end of 
        the grant period, as compared with the school year immediately 
        preceding the beginning of the grant period, in--
                    ``(A) the percentage of whole ingredients, raw 
                ingredients, or both, as a share of total expenditures 
                used in school meals; and
                    ``(B) the percentage of menu items prepared with 
                scratch cooking.
            ``(7) Authorization of appropriations.--
                    ``(A) In general.--There is authorized to be 
                appropriated to carry out this subsection $20,000,000 
                for each of fiscal years 2024 through 2028.
                    ``(B) Reservations.--Of the amounts made available 
                under subparagraph (A), the Secretary shall reserve--
                            ``(i) not more than 15 percent for purposes 
                        of carrying out paragraph (5), including 
                        administrative expenses; and
                            ``(ii) not more than 5 percent for other 
                        administrative expenses of the Secretary.''.
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