[Congressional Record Volume 165, Number 24 (Thursday, February 7, 2019)]
[Extensions of Remarks]
[Page E147]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




             AMERICAN FOOD FOR AMERICAN SCHOOLS ACT OF 2019

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                          HON. JOHN GARAMENDI

                             of california

                    in the house of representatives

                       Thursday, February 7, 2019

  Mr. GARAMENDI. Madam Speaker, today I reintroduce the ``American Food 
for American Schools Act.'' I want to thank my colleague and northern 
California neighbor Congressman Doug LaMalfa (R-CA) for his support as 
the original cosponsor.
  The ``American Food for American Schools Act'' would strengthen ``Buy 
American'' requirements under the National School Lunch Program, 
administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). This will 
ensure that school districts use federal taxpayer dollars to purchase 
domestically sourced food products for in-school meals. Our bipartisan 
bill would also increase transparency so that parents are notified when 
their schoolchildren are served foreign-produced foods.
  Even in northern California and Central Valley farming communities, 
some school districts use taxpayer dollars to buy imported foods, 
unnecessarily, without informing parents. In numerous cases, these same 
imported foods have been recalled due to safety concerns and outbreaks 
of foodborne diseases, when those same foods could have been sourced 
locally in the first place.
  Under our bill, school districts would be required to obtain a waiver 
from the USDA to use any federal taxpayer dollars to purchase foreign-
sourced food products. Any such USDA waivers would only be granted if 
the domestically produced food was cost prohibitive or simply 
unavailable.
  Our bill would also require that school districts notify parents of 
all foreign-sourced foods served to students, by posting any such 
waivers obtained from the USDA on the school's website. This would 
increase public transparency and provide American farmers an 
opportunity to seek out school districts that need affordable, 
domestically grown foods. Our nation's schoolchildren should be served 
nutritious, American-grown foods produced under the strictest food 
safety standards in the world. That is exactly what our bill would do.
  Last year, Congress included ``Buy American'' language for the 
National School Lunch Program in the Agriculture Improvement Act of 
2018 (Public Law 115-334). This is a good first step in addressing this 
critical issue for American farmers and school parents. Now Congress 
needs to finish the job by passing our ``American Food for American 
Schools Act'' into law.
  Madam Speaker, I hope all members of the House will join me and 
Congressman LaMalfa in cosponsoring the ``American Food for American 
Schools Act of 2019.'' I also hope that our bipartisan bill will be 
included in any future Child Nutrition Reauthorization taken up by the 
House and Senate.

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