II 

110TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3588 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants to hospitals and 

other nonprofit inpatient health care institutions, Department of Veterans 

Affairs medical centers, and other social service programs for the acquisition of local nutritious agricultural products. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

SEPTEMBER 25 (legislative day, SEPTEMBER 17), 2008 

Mrs. CLINTON introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To direct the Secretary of Agriculture to provide grants 

to hospitals and other nonprofit inpatient health care 

institutions, Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers, and other social service programs for the acquisition 

of local nutritious agricultural products. 

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 ‘‘Healthy Food for 

5 Healthy Lives Act of 2008’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 


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1 (1) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—The term ‘‘eligible enti2 ty’’ means— 

3 (A) an eligible hospital; or 

4 (B) an eligible organization. 

5 (2) ELIGIBLE HOSPITAL.—The term ‘‘eligible 

6 hospital’’ means— 

7 (A) a medical center or nursing home oper8 ated by the Department of Veterans Affairs; or 

9 (B) any other nonprofit hospital or other 

10 nonprofit inpatient healthcare institution. 

11 (3) ELIGIBLE ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘‘eligi12 ble organization’’ means a social service organization 

13 providing nutrition services, including Meals on 

14 Wheels. 

15 (4) ELIGIBLE PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘eligible 

16 product’’ means an agricultural product that— 

17 (A) is offered by a participating vendor; 

18 (B) is fresh, dried, frozen, or packaged in 

19 a manner that maximizes retention of nutrient 

20 density; 

21 (C) is grown, stored, or transported in a 

22 manner that maximizes retention of nutrient 

23 density; and 

24 (D) is a locally or regionally produced agri25 cultural food product that is stored and procVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:44 Sep 28, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3588.IS S3588

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1 essed locally, and, to the maximum extent prac2 ticable, reflects local preferences. 

3 (5) LOCALLY OR REGIONALLY PRODUCED AGRI4 CULTURAL FOOD PRODUCT.—The term ‘‘locally or 

5 regionally produced agricultural food product’’ 

6 means any agricultural food product that is raised, 

7 produced, and distributed in— 

8 (A) the locality or region in which the final 

9 product is marketed, so that the total distance 

10 that the product is transported is less than 400 

11 miles from the origin of the product; or 

12 (B) the State in which the product is pro13 duced. 

14 (6) PARTICIPATING VENDOR.— 

15 (A) IN GENERAL.—The term ‘‘partici16 pating vendor’’ means a local or regional dis17 tributor of eligible products that is approved 

18 under section 3(d)(1). 

19 (B) INCLUSION.—The term ‘‘participating 

20 vendor’’ includes an agricultural producer. 

21 (7) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

22 the Secretary of Agriculture. 


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1 SEC. 3. DEMONSTRATION GRANTS FOR HOSPITALS, DE2 PARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS MEDICAL 

3 CENTERS, AND NUTRITION PROGRAMS. 

4 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 

5 program under which the Secretary shall provide dem6 onstration grants to eligible entities to purchase eligible 

7 products from participating vendors to improve the avail8 ability of nutritious meals from local sources for— 

9 (1) patients of, employees of, and visitors to eli10 gible hospitals; and 

11 (2) clients of eligible organizations. 

12 (b) COORDINATION.—The Secretary shall coordinate 

13 the provision of demonstration grants under subsection (a) 

14 with— 

15 (1) the Secretary of Veterans Affairs, for pur16 poses of grants to an eligible entity described in sec17 tion 2(2)(A); and 

18 (2) the Secretary of Health and Human Serv19 ices, for purposes of grants to any other eligible enti20 ty. 

21 (c) AGREEMENTS.— 

22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 

23 through any regional procurement offices of the De24 partment of Agriculture that the Secretary deter25 mines to be appropriate, shall carry out a program 

26 under which the Secretary shall enter into agreeVerDate Aug 31 2005 23:44 Sep 28, 2008 Jkt 069200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3588.IS S3588

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1 ments with participating vendors to supply eligible 

2 products to eligible entities. 

3 (2) FUNDS.—Eligible products supplied under 

4 an agreement entered into under paragraph (1) shall 

5 be purchased by eligible entities using funds that are 

6 provided through demonstration grants under this 

7 section. 

8 (d) APPROVAL OF PARTICIPATING VENDORS.— 

9 (1) IN GENERAL.—A local or regional dis10 tributor of eligible products that seeks to supply eli11 gible products to eligible entities under this section 

12 shall apply to the Secretary for approval as a par13 ticipating vendor. 

14 (2) CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL.—The Sec15 retary shall approve an application submitted under 

16 paragraph (1) if the local or regional distributor of 

17 eligible products— 

18 (A) demonstrates the ability to supply eli19 gible products; 

20 (B) complies with Federal food safety laws 

21 (including regulations); 

22 (C) consistently provides products that 

23 meet standards of grade, size, freshness, and 

24 quality as required by the Secretary or local 

25 procurement officer; and 


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1 (D) demonstrates the ability to supply and 

2 purchase eligible products at a fair price from 

3 local growers and processors. 

4 (e) GRANT APPLICATIONS.— 

5 (1) APPLICATION PROCESS.— 

6 (A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to receive 

7 a grant to purchase eligible products from par8 ticipating vendors under this section, an eligible 

9 entity shall submit to the Secretary an applica10 tion at such time and containing such informa11 tion as the Secretary may require. 

12 (B) PRIORITY.—In providing grants under 

13 this section, the Secretary shall give priority to 

14 eligible entities with demonstrated commitment 

15 to developing organizational food and nutrition 

16 policies that incorporate locally or regionally 

17 produced agricultural food products. 

18 (2) ADDITIONAL REQUIREMENTS FOR ELIGIBLE

19 ORGANIZATIONS.—In addition to the information re20 quired under paragraph (1), an eligible organization 

21 shall include in a grant application under that para22 graph— 

23 (A) certification of the nonprofit status of 

24 the eligible organization; and 


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1 (B) evidence of the demonstrated ability of 

2 the eligible organization to provide nutrition 

3 services. 

4 (f) MONITORING.— 

5 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall develop 

6 and implement a system for monitoring— 

7 (A) participating vendors; and 

8 (B) grants provided under this section. 

9 (2) CERTIFICATION.—A monitoring system de10 veloped under this subsection may include a require11 ment for a participating vendor to obtain certifi12 cation in accordance with a program— 

13 (A) that is designed by the Secretary; and 

14 (B) under which the Secretary may require 

15 payments from participating vendors for the 

16 certification process. 

17 (g) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

18 are authorized to be appropriated for each of fiscal years 

19 2009 through 2013— 

20 (1) $10,000,000 to provide grants to eligible 

21 hospitals described in section 2(2)(A); 

22 (2) $10,000,000 to provide grants to eligible 

23 hospitals described in section 2(2)(B); and 

24 (3) $5,000,000 to provide grants to eligible or25 ganizations. 


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1 SEC. 4. REPORT ON FRESH FOODS IN FEDERALLY FUNDED 

2 HEALTH AND SOCIAL SERVICE PROGRAMS. 

3 Not later than 2 years after the date of enactment 

4 of this Act, the Secretary, in coordination with the Sec5 retary of Health and Human Services and the heads of 

6 other applicable Federal agencies, shall submit to the ap7 propriate committees of Congress a report that provides 

8 recommendations for ways in which— 

9 (1) health care institutions and social service 

10 organizations could increase the use of nutritious, 

11 local agricultural products in nutrition and food 

12 service programs; and 

13 (2) the Federal Government could provide tech14 nical assistance for and support the activities rec15 ommended under paragraph (1). 

Æ 


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