I 

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. 

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 ‘‘Scratch Cooked Meals 

5 for Students Act’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. PILOT PROGRAM FOR GRANTS PROMOTING 

2 SCRATCH COOKING IN SCHOOL MEAL PRO3 GRAMS. 

4 Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

5 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by inserting be6 fore subsection (b) the following new subsection: 

7 ‘‘(a) SCRATCH COOKING PILOT PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 

9 ‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 

10 180 days after the date of the enactment of this 

11 subsection, the Secretary shall establish a pilot 

12 program to award competitive grants to school 

13 food authorities to promote scratch cooking. 

14 ‘‘(B) SCRATCH COOKING DEFINED.—In 

15 this subsection, the term ‘scratch cooking’ 

16 means the preparation of food using ingredients 

17 that are unprocessed or minimally processed. 

18 ‘‘(2) GRANT AMOUNTS AND DURATION.—A 

19 grant awarded under this subsection shall be made 

20 for a period of 2 school years. 

21 ‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE USES.—A grant awarded under 

22 this subsection shall be used by a school food au23 thority to promote scratch cooking, which may in24 clude— 

25 ‘‘(A) promoting professional development 

26 and training related to preparing, procuring, 


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1 advertising, serving, and creating menus of 

2 meals made with scratch cooking; 

3 ‘‘(B) purchasing cafeteria equipment or 

4 making infrastructure modifications necessary 

5 for scratch cooking; 

6 ‘‘(C) employee compensation for additional 

7 food preparation necessary for scratch cooking; 

8 ‘‘(D) providing technical assistance, pupil 

9 engagement, and education related to scratch 

10 cooking, such as taste tests, recipe development, 

11 and culinary education; 

12 ‘‘(E) investing in software and technology 

13 systems for procurement to support scratch 

14 cooking; and 

15 ‘‘(F) carrying out any additional activities 

16 to promote scratch cooking that will help school 

17 food authorities meet or exceed the nutrition 

18 standards for the school lunch program author19 ized under this Act and the school breakfast 

20 program established by section 4 of the Child 

21 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 

22 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In evaluating grant applica23 tions under this subsection, the Secretary shall give 

24 the highest priority to school food authorities that— 


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1 ‘‘(A) serve the greatest proportion of stu2 dents eligible for free or reduced price lunch 

3 under this Act; 

4 ‘‘(B) are— 

5 ‘‘(i) self-operated; or 

6 ‘‘(ii) provide an assurance to the Sec7 retary that the school food authority will 

8 be self-operated on or before the date that 

9 is 1 year before the last day of the grant 

10 period; and 

11 ‘‘(C) either— 

12 ‘‘(i) have employees who are rep13 resented by a collective bargaining agree14 ment or memorandum of understanding, if 

15 such employees are permitted by law to be 

16 so represented; or 

17 ‘‘(ii) provide an assurance to the Sec18 retary that the school food authority will, 

19 with respect to the employees of such 

20 school food authority, negotiate a collective 

21 bargaining agreement or memorandum of 

22 understanding on or before the date that is 

23 1 year before the last day of the grant pe24 riod. 

25 ‘‘(5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 


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

2 enter into an agreement with one or more non3 profit organizations to establish and carry out 

4 a technical assistance and resource center to 

5 provide technical assistance with respect to car6 rying out subparagraphs (A) through (C) of 

7 paragraph (3). 

8 ‘‘(B) COLLABORATION REQUIREMENT.—As 

9 soon as practicable after receiving a grant 

10 under this subsection, a school food authority 

11 shall collaborate with the technical assistance 

12 and resource center established under subpara13 graph (A) to— 

14 ‘‘(i) conduct a needs assessment to 

15 evaluate equipment needs, equipment utili16 zation, procurement processes, and work17 force capabilities of the school food author18 ity; and 

19 ‘‘(ii) based on such needs assessment, 

20 establish a strategic plan to carry out the 

21 grant under this subsection. 

22 ‘‘(6) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 

23 the conclusion of the grant period described in para24 graph (2), each school food authority that receives 

25 a grant under this subsection shall submit to the 


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1 Secretary a report that includes, with respect to 

2 such school food authority, the change at the end of 

3 the grant period, as compared with the school year 

4 immediately preceding the beginning of the grant pe5 riod, in— 

6 ‘‘(A) the percentage of whole ingredients, 

7 raw ingredients, or both, as a share of total ex8 penditures used in school meals; and 

9 ‘‘(B) the percentage of menu items pre10 pared with scratch cooking. 

11 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

12 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 

13 be appropriated to carry out this subsection 

14 $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 

15 through 2028. 

16 ‘‘(B) RESERVATIONS.—Of the amounts 

17 made available under subparagraph (A), the 

18 Secretary shall reserve— 

19 ‘‘(i) not more than 15 percent for pur20 poses of carrying out paragraph (5), in21 cluding administrative expenses; and 

22 ‘‘(ii) not more than 5 percent for 

23 other administrative expenses of the Sec24 retary.’’. 

Æ 


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