School Meals: Buy American Requirements
A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a school food authority to make publicly available any waiver of the Buy American requirement, and for other purposes.
A senate committee must act next: committee consideration.
The bill has support from both parties and helps American farmers, but schools may worry about the extra paperwork and potential price increases for food.
Scores run from -100 (strongly harmful) to +100 (strongly beneficial) for each group, combining impact, certainty, scope, and duration ratings of 1-5. How impact scoring works
Food suppliers and distributors that contract with school food authorities must now include compliance clauses in every contract, and any supplier who provides foreign products in violation of that clause must repay the federal funds used for the purchase. Smaller suppliers with less compliance capacity may face added administrative burden and financial risk.
“A supplier that enters into a contract described in subparagraph (A) that does not comply with the covered provision in the contract shall be required to pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the amount of Federal funds the supplier used to purchase foreign commodities or products in noncompliance of the covered provision.”
Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.
Sent to a congressional committee for expert review. The committee decides whether this bill moves forward.
Introduced in Senate
The bill was officially filed and given a number. It now enters the legislative queue.
A bipartisan group of federal lawmakers reintroduced the American Food for American Schools Act to strengthen Buy America requirements for USDA school meal programs. The bill limits waivers to 5% of food costs and requires schools to notify parents when foreign-sourced food is served.
Senators Tim Sheehy (R-MT) and Adam Schiff (D-CA) introduced the American Food for American Schools Act to ensure American-grown food is served in school meals. The bill aims to build a resilient domestic food supply chain and support U.S. farmers and ranchers by tightening waiver rules.
The American Food for American Schools Act was reintroduced this week by a bipartisan group of lawmakers. The legislation would modernize the Buy American waiver process for school lunch providers and add parent notification requirements for foreign food purchases.
No votes or related bills recorded for this bill yet.
Document Type
Congressional Bill
Official Title
A bill to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a school food authority to make publicly available any waiver of the Buy American requirement, and for other purposes.
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