Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act

Key Points

• This bill creates a competitive grant pilot program to help schools shift from pre-packaged, processed foods to meals made from scratch using whole and raw ingredients. The grants would last two school years and cover equipment, training, and worker pay.
• The program authorizes $20 million per year for five fiscal years (2027 through 2031), totaling up to $100 million. Up to 15% of that money can go toward technical assistance, and up to 5% for other administrative costs.
• Schools with the most low-income students get top priority for grants. The bill also favors schools that run their own cafeterias (self-operated) and those whose food service workers are covered by a union agreement.
• Grant recipients must work with a nonprofit technical assistance center to assess their kitchen needs and build a strategic plan. After the two-year grant period ends, schools must report how much their use of whole ingredients and scratch-cooked menu items changed.
• Eligible spending includes professional development for kitchen staff, purchasing cafeteria equipment, infrastructure upgrades, employee compensation for added prep time, culinary education for students, and procurement technology.