II 

113TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1374 

To allow traditional foods to be served at public facilities. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JULY 25, 2013 

Mr. BEGICH introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Indian Affairs 

A BILL 

To allow traditional foods to be served at public facilities. 

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 ‘‘Traditional Foods 

5 Nourishment Act of 2013’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

8 (1) ALASKA NATIVE.—The term ‘‘Alaska Na9 tive’’ means a person who is a member of any Native 

10 village, Village Corporation, or Regional Corpora11 tion, as those terms are defined in section 3 of the 


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1 Alaska Native Claims Settlement Act (43 U.S.C. 

2 1602). 

3 (2) FOOD SERVICE PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘food 

4 service program’’ includes— 

5 (A) food service at a residential child care 

6 facility with a license from an appropriate State 

7 agency; 

8 (B) a child nutrition program (as defined 

9 in section 25(b) of the Richard B. Russell Na10 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769f(b)); 

11 (C) food service at a hospital, clinic, or 

12 long-term care facility; and 

13 (D) a senior meal program. 

14 (3) INDIAN; INDIAN TRIBE.—The terms ‘‘In15 dian’’ and ‘‘Indian tribe’’ have the meanings given 

16 those terms in section 4 of the Indian Self-Deter17 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

18 450b). 

19 (4) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

20 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

21 (5) TRADITIONAL FOOD.— 

22 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘traditional 

23 food’’ means food that has traditionally been 

24 prepared and consumed by an Indian tribe. 


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1 (B) INCLUSIONS.—The term ‘‘traditional 

2 food’’ includes— 

3 (i) wild game meat; 

4 (ii) fish; 

5 (iii) seafood; 

6 (iv) marine mammals; 

7 (v) plants; and 

8 (vi) berries. 

9 (6) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘tribal 

10 organization’’ has the meaning given the term in 

11 section 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu12 cation Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 450b). 

13 SEC. 3. FINDINGS; PURPOSES. 

14 (a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds that— 

15 (1) consumption of traditional foods is proven 

16 to benefit health, physical well-being, and fitness; 

17 (2) the National Institutes of Health has indi18 cated that an increase in the consumption of tradi19 tional foods results in positive health effects among 

20 Alaska Natives; 

21 (3) the leading cause of death among Alaska 

22 Natives is diet-related health problems resulting in 

23 cancer and heart disease; 

24 (4) traditional foods such as wild salmon, ma25 rine mammals, migratory birds, moose, caribou, berVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:47 Jul 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1374.IS S1374

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1 ries, and plants can have a positive health impact 

2 when consumed regularly; 

3 (5) the Department of Agriculture and the Eco4 nomic Research Center have indicated that food 

5 from local sources is proven to be fresher and less 

6 processed and to retain more nutrients; 

7 (6) providing access to traditional foods in food 

8 service programs promotes healthier lifestyles; 

9 (7) many patients find that traditional foods 

10 provide comfort while undergoing treatment or re11 covery; 

12 (8) opening food service programs to the dona13 tion of traditional foods would aid patients receiving 

14 care in a public facility physically and mentally dur15 ing the healing process; 

16 (9) food plays an incredibly large part in the 

17 culture and lifestyle of a community and expanding 

18 traditional food options to school systems would pro19 mote more extensive cultural education; 

20 (10) by increasing demand for local produce, 

21 economic stimulation can occur, furthering the devel22 opment of local communities; 

23 (11) providing local food donations can lower 

24 the cost of meal programs in schools, resulting in 

25 more financially stable beneficiaries and a reduction 


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1 in expenditures by the Federal Government on the 

2 child nutrition program (as defined in section 25(b) 

3 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

4 Act (42 U.S.C. 1769f(b)); 

5 (12) the program established by this Act would 

6 bring communities together; 

7 (13) the expansion of opportunities for the do8 nation of traditional foods supports hunters; 

9 (14) game hunters are required to harvest all of 

10 the edible meat from most large game; and 

11 (15) this Act provides a direct opportunity for 

12 hunters to donate the meat to food service pro13 grams. 

14 (b) PURPOSES.—The purposes of this Act are— 

15 (1) to provide access to traditional foods in food 

16 service programs; 

17 (2) to encourage increased consumption of tra18 ditional foods to decrease health disparities among 

19 Indians, particularly Alaska Natives; and 

20 (3) to provide alternative food options for food 

21 service programs. 

22 SEC. 4. SERVICE OF TRADITIONAL FOODS IN FOOD SERV23 ICE PROGRAMS. 

24 (a) PROGRAM.—Notwithstanding any other provision 

25 of law, the Secretary shall allow the donation to and servVerDate Mar 15 2010 00:47 Jul 30, 2013 Jkt 029200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1374.IS S1374

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1 ing of traditional food through a food service program at 

2 a public facility or a nonprofit facility, including a facility 

3 operated by an Indian tribe or a tribal organization, that 

4 primarily serves Indians if the operator of the food service 

5 program— 

6 (1) ensures that the food is received whole, gut7 ted, gilled, as quarters, or as a roast, without fur8 ther processing; 

9 (2) makes a reasonable determination that— 

10 (A) the animal was not diseased; 

11 (B) the food was butchered, dressed, trans12 ported, and stored to prevent contamination, 

13 undesirable microbial growth, or deterioration; 

14 and 

15 (C) the food will not cause a significant 

16 health hazard or potential for human illness; 

17 (3) carries out any further preparation or proc18 essing of the food at a different time or in a dif19 ferent space from the preparation or processing of 

20 other food for the applicable program to prevent 

21 cross-contamination; 

22 (4) cleans and sanitizes food-contact surfaces of 

23 equipment and utensils after processing the tradi24 tional food; and 


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1 (5) labels donated traditional food with the 

2 name of the food and stores the traditional food sep3 arately from other food for the applicable program, 

4 including through storage in a separate freezer or 

5 refrigerator or in a separate compartment or shelf in 

6 the freezer or refrigerator. 

7 (b) LIABILITY.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—The United States, an In9 dian tribe, and a tribal organization shall not be lia10 ble in any civil action for any damage, injury, or 

11 death caused to any person by the donation to or 

12 serving of traditional foods through a food service 

13 program. 

14 (2) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in 

15 paragraph (1) alters any liability or other obligation 

16 of the United States under the Indian Self-Deter17 mination and Education Assistance Act (25 U.S.C. 

18 450 et seq.). 

Æ 


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