I 

116TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7704 

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

the Food and Nutrition Education in Schools Pilot Program, and for 

other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

JULY 21, 2020 

Ms. KENDRA S. HORN of Oklahoma (for herself, Mr. BACON, and Ms. SCANLON) 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 establish the Food and Nutrition Education in 

Schools Pilot Program, 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 ‘‘Food and Nutrition 

5 Education in Schools Act of 2020’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FOOD AND NUTRITION EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS 

2 PILOT PROGRAM. 

3 Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 

4 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by adding at the 

5 end the following: 

6 ‘‘(l) FOOD AND NUTRITION EDUCATION IN SCHOOLS

7 PILOT PROGRAM.— 

8 ‘‘(1) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this subsection 

9 is to provide local educational agencies with human 

10 resources dedicated to implementing integrated, 

11 hands-on food and nutrition education in schools 

12 with the goal of increasing acceptance and consump13 tion of healthy, high-quality meals and snacks by 

14 students. 

15 ‘‘(2) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 180 

16 days after the date of enactment of this subsection, 

17 the Secretary shall establish a pilot program, to be 

18 known as the ‘Food and Nutrition Education in 

19 Schools Pilot Program’ (referred to in this sub20 section as the ‘pilot program’), under which the Sec21 retary shall award grants to local educational agen22 cies for— 

23 ‘‘(A) projects that hire qualified, full-time 

24 food and nutrition educators to carry out pro25 grams in schools that have the goal of improv26 ing student health and nutrition; and 


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1 ‘‘(B) projects that fund school gardens or 

2 other evidence-based interventions relating to 

3 student health and nutrition to create hands-on 

4 learning opportunities for students. 

5 ‘‘(3) JOINT PARTNERSHIPS.—The Secretary 

6 shall encourage, to the maximum extent practicable, 

7 joint partnership projects under the pilot program 

8 among— 

9 ‘‘(A) agencies; 

10 ‘‘(B) nonprofit organizations; 

11 ‘‘(C) postsecondary institutions that offer 

12 programs on nutrition, food preparation, or ag13 ricultural science; 

14 ‘‘(D) food-service businesses (such as local 

15 farms, restaurants, and food distributors); 

16 ‘‘(E) beginning farmers and ranchers (as 

17 defined in section 2501(a) of the Food, Agri18 culture, Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 

19 (7 U.S.C. 2279(a))); 

20 ‘‘(F) veteran farmers and ranchers (as de21 fined in that section); 

22 ‘‘(G) socially disadvantaged farmers and 

23 ranchers (as defined in section 355(e) of the 

24 Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act 

25 (7 U.S.C. 2003(e))); and 


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1 ‘‘(H) State and local government agencies. 

2 ‘‘(4) COORDINATION.—In establishing the pilot 

3 program, the Secretary shall consult and ensure co4 ordination with the heads of other appropriate Fed5 eral agencies and programs that deliver nutrition 

6 education. 

7 ‘‘(5) PROJECT PROPOSALS.— 

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

9 annually solicit from local educational agencies 

10 the submission of project proposals for grants 

11 under the pilot program. 

12 ‘‘(B) REQUIRED ELEMENTS FOR PROJECT

13 PROPOSAL.—A project proposal submitted 

14 under subparagraph (A) shall include— 

15 ‘‘(i) a statement of the purposes of 

16 the project; 

17 ‘‘(ii)(I) the name of the entity or indi18 vidual with overall responsibility for the 

19 project; and 

20 ‘‘(II) a description of the qualifica21 tions of that entity or individual; 

22 ‘‘(iii) a description of— 

23 ‘‘(I) staffing and stakeholder en24 gagement for the project; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the logistics of the project; 

2 and 

3 ‘‘(III) the methods to be used to 

4 evaluate student learning, such as 

5 through a project, presentation, or 

6 other form of assessment; 

7 ‘‘(iv) a proposed budget for the funds 

8 and time required to carry out the project; 

9 ‘‘(v) information regarding the source 

10 and amount of any matching funding avail11 able for the project; 

12 ‘‘(vi) an implementation plan, includ13 ing efforts by the school food authority as14 sociated with the local educational agency 

15 to integrate activities carried out under the 

16 project with other efforts by schools to pro17 mote student health and nutrition; 

18 ‘‘(vii) information that demonstrates 

19 the clear potential of the project to con20 tribute to implementing integrated, hands21 on food and nutrition education in schools 

22 with the goal of increasing acceptance and 

23 consumption of healthy, high-quality meals 

24 and snacks; and 


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1 ‘‘(viii) any other information that the 

2 Secretary considers necessary. 

3 ‘‘(C) CRITERIA FOR APPROVAL.—The Sec4 retary may award a grant for a project proposal 

5 submitted under subparagraph (A) if the 

6 project— 

7 ‘‘(i) incorporates evidence-based prac8 tices proven to increase healthy food con9 sumption by students; 

10 ‘‘(ii) includes hands-on, experiential 

11 learning; 

12 ‘‘(iii) implements school gardens, taste 

13 tests, student engagement, or other farm14 to-school practices; 

15 ‘‘(iv) identifies the commitment of the 

16 local educational agency— 

17 ‘‘(I) to improve the nutritional 

18 value of school meals; 

19 ‘‘(II) to carry out innovative pro20 grams that improve the health and 

21 wellness of schoolchildren, such as 

22 farm-to-school programs; and 

23 ‘‘(III) to evaluate the outcome of 

24 the project; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) meets any other requirement es2 tablished by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(D) PRIORITY.—To the maximum extent 

4 practicable, in awarding grants under the pilot 

5 program, the Secretary shall give priority to 

6 projects that serve schools or districts— 

7 ‘‘(i) in which not less than 40 percent 

8 of students qualify for free or reduced9 price meals under this Act or the Child 

10 Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et 

11 seq.); or 

12 ‘‘(ii) that include neighborhoods with 

13 high rates of childhood obesity or other 

14 diet-related diseases. 

15 ‘‘(6) ADMINISTRATION.— 

16 ‘‘(A) DIVERSITY.—In awarding grants 

17 under the pilot program, the Secretary shall en18 sure that projects are located in diverse demo19 graphic, geographic, rural, urban, and suburban 

20 settings. 

21 ‘‘(B) INDIAN TRIBES.—The Secretary shall 

22 ensure that not fewer than 1 project receiving 

23 a grant under the pilot program— 

24 ‘‘(i) is located on an Indian reserva25 tion; or 


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1 ‘‘(ii) serves a school in which the ma2 jority of the students are members of an 

3 Indian tribe. 

4 ‘‘(7) REPORTS.— 

5 ‘‘(A) REPORTS TO SECRETARY.— 

6 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—A local edu7 cational agency that receives a grant under 

8 the pilot program shall periodically submit 

9 to the Secretary a report that includes any 

10 information that the Secretary determines 

11 is necessary to evaluate the progress and 

12 success of the project, including evidence 

13 of student learning under the project, to 

14 ensure positive results, assess problems, 

15 and foster improvements. 

16 ‘‘(ii) AVAILABILITY TO THE PUBLIC.— 

17 Reports under clause (i), and any other 

18 documents of the local educational agency 

19 relating to a project carried out using a 

20 grant awarded under the pilot program, 

21 shall be made available to the public in a 

22 timely manner. 

23 ‘‘(B) REPORTS TO CONGRESS.—Not later 

24 than 5 years after the date of enactment of this 

25 subsection, and annually thereafter, the SecVerDate Sep 11 2014 21:08 Aug 06, 2020 Jkt 099200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H7704.IH H7704

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1 retary shall submit to Congress a report that 

2 includes— 

3 ‘‘(i) a description of the results and 

4 effectiveness of each project carried out 

5 under the pilot program; 

6 ‘‘(ii) an examination of the impact of 

7 each project on— 

8 ‘‘(I) student diet and dietary 

9 practices; 

10 ‘‘(II) student performance and 

11 behavior; 

12 ‘‘(III) food consumption; 

13 ‘‘(IV) changes in cafeterias and 

14 the school food environment; 

15 ‘‘(V) school meal participation by 

16 students; and 

17 ‘‘(VI) other indicators as deter18 mined by the Secretary; 

19 ‘‘(iii) demographic data on the schools 

20 and communities served by the pilot pro21 gram; 

22 ‘‘(iv) a summary of the activities con23 ducted by each local educational agency 

24 after receiving a grant under the pilot pro25 gram; and 


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1 ‘‘(v) recommendations on how the 

2 pilot program may be improved and wheth3 er funding for the pilot program should be 

4 continued. 

5 ‘‘(8) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

6 There is authorized to be appropriated to the Sec7 retary to carry out this subsection $7,000,000 for 

8 each of fiscal years 2021 through 2025.’’. 

Æ 


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