I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5607 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require 

the Secretary of Agriculture to carry out a grant program to make 

grants to eligible local educational agencies to carry out food waste 

reduction programs, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JANUARY 15, 2020 

Ms. PINGREE (for herself, Mr. NEWHOUSE, and Ms. BONAMICI) introduced 

the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and 

Labor 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to require the Secretary of Agriculture to carry 

out a grant program to make grants to eligible local 

educational agencies to carry out food waste reduction 

programs, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘School Food Recovery 

5 Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. SCHOOL FOOD WASTE REDUCTION GRANT PRO2 GRAM. 

3 Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

4 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by inserting be5 fore subsection (b) the following: 

6 ‘‘(a) SCHOOL FOOD WASTE REDUCTION GRANT PRO7 GRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) GRANT PROGRAM ESTABLISHED.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 

10 carry out a program to make grants, on a com11 petitive basis, to eligible local educational agen12 cies to carry out food waste measurement and 

13 reporting, prevention, education, and reduction 

14 projects. 

15 ‘‘(B) REGIONAL BALANCE.—In awarding 

16 grants under this subsection, the Secretary 

17 shall, to the maximum extent practicable, en18 sure that— 

19 ‘‘(i) a grant is awarded to an eligible 

20 local educational agency in each region 

21 served by the Administrator of the Food 

22 and Nutrition Service; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) equitable treatment of rural, 

24 urban, and tribal communities. 

25 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 

26 grant under this subsection, an eligible local eduVerDate Sep 11 2014 17:55 Jan 16, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H5607.IH H5607

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1 cational agency shall submit an application to the 

2 Secretary at such time, in such manner, and con3 taining such information as the Secretary may re4 quire. 

5 ‘‘(3) PRIORITY.—In making grants under this 

6 subsection the Secretary shall give priority to an eli7 gible local educational agency that demonstrates in 

8 the application under paragraph (2) that such eligi9 ble local educational agency will use the grant to— 

10 ‘‘(A) carry out experiential education ac11 tivities that encourage children enrolled in such 

12 eligible local educational agency to participate 

13 in food waste measurement and education; 

14 ‘‘(B) prioritize the best use of food in ac15 cordance with the Food Recovery Hierarchy 

16 published by the Administrator of the Environ17 mental Protection Agency; 

18 ‘‘(C) with respect to food waste prevention 

19 and reduction, collaborate with other eligible 

20 local educational agencies, tribes, nongovern21 mental and community-based organizations, 

22 and other community partners; 

23 ‘‘(D) evaluate the activities described in 

24 subparagraphs (A) through (C) and make eval25 uation plans; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) establish a food waste measurement, 

2 prevention, and reduction project with long3 term sustainability. 

4 ‘‘(4) FEDERAL SHARE.— 

5 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Federal share of 

6 a food waste measurement, prevention, and re7 duction project funded through a grant awarded 

8 under this subsection shall not exceed 75 per9 cent of the total cost of such food waste reduc10 tion project. 

11 ‘‘(B) FEDERAL MATCHING.—As a condi12 tion of receiving a grant under this subsection, 

13 an eligible local educational agency shall provide 

14 matching funds in the form of cash or in-kind 

15 contributions, including facilities, equipment, or 

16 services provided by State and local govern17 ments, nonprofit organizations, and private 

18 sources. 

19 ‘‘(5) USE OF FUNDS.—An eligible local edu20 cational agency that receives a grant under this sec21 tion shall use funds under such grant to carry out 

22 at least one of the following: 

23 ‘‘(A) Planning a food waste measurement, 

24 prevention, and reduction project. 


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1 ‘‘(B) Carrying out activities under such a 

2 project. 

3 ‘‘(C) Providing training to support such a 

4 project. 

5 ‘‘(D) Purchasing equipment to support 

6 such a project. 

7 ‘‘(E) Offering food waste education to stu8 dents enrolled in such eligible local educational 

9 agency. 

10 ‘‘(6) EVALUATION.— 

11 ‘‘(A) AGREEMENT.—As a condition of re12 ceiving a grant under this subsection, each eli13 gible local educational agency shall agree to co14 operate in an evaluation by the Secretary of the 

15 project carried out using grant funds. 

16 ‘‘(B) PERIODIC EVALUATION.—Not later 

17 than 2 years after the date of the enactment of 

18 this paragraph and every 2 years thereafter, the 

19 Secretary shall carry out an evaluation of the 

20 grants made under this section that includes— 

21 ‘‘(i) the amount of Federal funds used 

22 to carry out such grants; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) an evaluation of the outcomes of 

24 the projects carried out pursuant to such 

25 grants. 


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1 ‘‘(7) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE LOCAL EDU2 CATIONAL AGENCY.—In this subsection, the term ‘el3 igible local educational agency’ means a local edu4 cational agency that participates in the school lunch 

5 program under this Act or the school breakfast pro6 gram established under section 4 of the Child Nutri7 tion Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).’’. 

8 SEC. 3. TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE. 

9 Section 21(b) of the Richard B. Russell National 

10 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769b–1(b)) is amended— 

11 (1) in paragraph (2), by striking ‘‘and’’ at the 

12 end; 

13 (2) in paragraph (3), by striking the period at 

14 the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

15 (3) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(4) food waste measurement, prevention, and 

17 reduction.’’. 

Æ 


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