I 

111TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 5456 

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

competitive grants to assist eligible entities in implementing or expanding 

farm-to-school programs. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

MAY 28, 2010 

Ms. MCCOLLUM (for herself, Mr. SCOTT of Virginia, Mr. LATHAM, Mr. 

ELLISON, Mr. LUJA ́N, Mr. KAGEN, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. PUTNAM, Mr. 

MICHAUD, Mr. AL GREEN of Texas, Ms. KAPTUR, Mr. CARNAHAN, Mr. 

MOORE of Kansas, Ms. PINGREE of Maine, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Mr. 

SHULER, Mr. KIND, Mr. LOEBSACK, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Ms. 

SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. COURTNEY, Mr. WALZ, Mr. HOLT, Mr. PERRIELLO, 

and Mr. MORAN of Virginia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor, and in addition to the 

Committee on Agriculture, for a period to be subsequently determined by 

the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to award competitive grants to assist eligible entities 

in implementing or expanding farm-to-school 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 ‘‘National Farm-to5 School Act of 2010’’. 


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1 SEC. 2. FINDINGS. 

2 Congress finds the following: 

3 (1) Farm-to-school programs facilitate the pur4 chase of local food for school meals and offer a spec5 trum of both immediate and long-term benefits to 

6 child health, small- and medium-sized agricultural 

7 producer income, and community economic develop8 ment. 

9 (2) Farm-to-school programs of varying scale 

10 are operational in over 8,900 schools in 42 States 

11 around the country. 

12 (3) Though successful models of farm-to-school 

13 programs exist around the country, many schools 

14 and small- and medium-sized agricultural producers 

15 that would like to implement a farm-to-school pro16 gram or scale up their existing program face bar17 riers in the form of program planning, implementa18 tion, and technical capacity. 

19 (4) One-third of children in the United States 

20 are now obese or overweight. Over the past 3 dec21 ades, obesity rates have quadrupled in 6 to 11 year 

22 olds and tripled in 12 to 19 year olds, according to 

23 the most recent data from the Centers for Disease 

24 Control’s National Health and Nutrition Examina25 tion Survey. 


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1 (5) Childhood obesity rates are disproportion2 ately high among low-income and minority popu3 lations. Among Mexican-American children and ado4 lescents ages 2 to 19, 38 percent are obese or over5 weight. For African-American children, this rate is 

6 close to 35 percent. A study of American Indian sec7 ond-graders in Arizona, New Mexico and South Da8 kota found that over 20 percent of the children were 

9 overweight and 29 percent were obese. 

10 (6) Communities with high levels of poverty 

11 have less access to fresh fruits and vegetables than 

12 higher-income communities. A study of nearly 700 

13 neighborhoods in the United States found that low14 income areas have access to half as many super15 markets as the wealthiest areas. 

16 (7) Increased consumption of fresh fruits and 

17 vegetables is one of six major strategies to prevent 

18 and control obesity, according to the Centers for 

19 Disease Control. 

20 (8) According to survey data from the Depart21 ment of Agriculture, only 2 percent of children na22 tionwide meet the daily food servings as rec23 ommended by the Food Guide Pyramid. 

24 (9) The national school lunch program estab25 lished under the Richard B. Russell National School 


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1 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) has potential to 

2 provide fresher and healthier foods to millions of 

3 children in the United States. Approximately 60 per4 cent of students in the United States are eligible to 

5 receive free or reduced-price school lunches. In fiscal 

6 year 2008, 30.9 million children consumed free or 

7 reduced-price school lunch on a daily basis. 

8 (10) Farm-to-school programs can increase chil9 dren’s daily intake of fresh fruits and vegetables. 

10 Farm-to-school programs in Oregon and California 

11 have demonstrated that children in schools with an 

12 active farm-to-school program increased their aver13 age consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables by 

14 one or more servings per day. 

15 (11) Farm-to-school programs are popular 

16 among children and can increase school lunch par17 ticipation. Studies of 9 farm-to-school programs 

18 found that schools that participate in a farm-to19 school program have seen an increase in student 

20 participation in the school meal program ranging 

21 from 3 percent to 16 percent for all meals. 

22 (12) Farm-to-school programs can benefit 

23 small- and mid-sized agricultural producers by pro24 viding access to consistent markets and the planning 


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1 and organization skills to expand to other institu2 tional customers. 

3 (13) Farm-to-school programs can benefit local 

4 economies. A 2009 study of farm-to-school programs 

5 in Oregon found that for every one dollar invested 

6 in farm-to-school programs, the yield in economic ac7 tivity in the local community was $1.87. 

8 SEC. 3. DEFINITIONS. 

9 In this Act: 

10 (1) FARM-TO-SCHOOL PROGRAM.—The term 

11 ‘‘farm-to-school program’’ means a program that 

12 connects schools and small- and medium-sized agri13 cultural producers for the purposes of— 

14 (A) serving locally produced, healthy foods 

15 (including fresh fruits and vegetables, dairy, 

16 meat, fish, and poultry, and grains) in school 

17 cafeterias; 

18 (B) improving student nutrition; 

19 (C) providing educational opportunities for 

20 students in the areas of nutrition, health, and 

21 local agricultural food production; and 

22 (D) supporting local and regional agri23 culture and the growth of rural communities. 


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1 (2) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

2 the Secretary of Agriculture unless otherwise speci3 fied. 

4 SEC. 4. SENSE OF CONGRESS. 

5 It is the sense of Congress that— 

6 (1) farm-to-school programs should be recog7 nized as a proven effective strategy that can provide 

8 immediate and long-term benefits to child health, 

9 small- and medium-sized agricultural producer in10 come, and community economic development; and 

11 (2) the Federal Government should partner in 

12 assisting schools and local educational agencies with 

13 planning, technical assistance, and implementation 

14 of farm-to-school programs. 

15 SEC. 5. PURPOSES. 

16 The purposes of this Act are to— 

17 (1) establish the Federal Government as a part18 ner in assisting communities with planning, tech19 nical assistance, and implementation of efficient, 

20 cost-effective farm-to-school programs; and 

21 (2) facilitate a sustained commitment to farm22 to-school procurement in communities by linking 

23 local small- and medium-sized agricultural pro24 ducers, schools and institutions, State, local and 

25 tribal government agencies, institutions of higher 


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1 education, parents, community and tribal organiza2 tions, and other community stakeholders 

3 TITLE I—COMPETITIVE GRANT 

4 PROGRAM FOR FARM-TO5 SCHOOL PROGRAMS 

6 SEC. 101. COMPETITIVE GRANT PROGRAM FOR FARM-TO7 SCHOOL PROGRAMS. 

8 (a) AMENDMENT.—The Richard B. Russell National 

9 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.) is amended 

10 by inserting after section 19, the following: 

11 ‘‘SEC. 19A. FARM-TO-SCHOOL PROGRAM. 

12 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—From the amounts appropriated 

13 under subsection (l), the Secretary shall provide assist14 ance, through competitive matching grants and technical 

15 assistance, to eligible entities to implement or expand 

16 farm-to-school programs, and for related activities. 

17 ‘‘(b) ELIGIBLE ENTITY.—For purposes of this sec18 tion, the term ‘eligible entity’ means— 

19 ‘‘(1) a school, including a charter school; 

20 ‘‘(2) a local educational agency; 

21 ‘‘(3) an institution of higher education; 

22 ‘‘(4) a nongovernmental, community-based, or 

23 tribal organization; 

24 ‘‘(5) a State, regional, local, or tribal govern25 ment agency; or 


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1 ‘‘(6) a partnership consisting of 2 or more of 

2 the entities described in paragraphs (1) through (5). 

3 ‘‘(c) REGIONAL BALANCE.—In awarding grants 

4 under this section, the Secretary, to the maximum extent 

5 practicable, shall ensure— 

6 ‘‘(1) geographical diversity; and 

7 ‘‘(2) participation of urban, rural, and tribal 

8 communities. 

9 ‘‘(d) TYPES OF GRANTS.—A grant under this section 

10 may be— 

11 ‘‘(1) an implementation grant to support the 

12 initial costs of implementing a new, or expanding an 

13 existing, farm-to-school program; 

14 ‘‘(2) a training and technical assistance grant 

15 to support the training and access to resources and 

16 information necessary to conduct a successful farm17 to-school program; or 

18 ‘‘(3) a planning grant to support the cost of 

19 conducting research, identifying resources, and de20 veloping partnerships to design a successful and sus21 tainable farm-to-school program. 

22 ‘‘(e) GRANT AMOUNTS.—A grant awarded under this 

23 section to an eligible entity shall not exceed— 

24 ‘‘(1) in the case of an implementation or train25 ing and technical assistance grant, $100,000; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) in the case of a planning grant, $25,000. 

2 ‘‘(f) GRANT DURATION.—A grant under this section 

3 shall be awarded for a period— 

4 ‘‘(1) in the case of an implementation or train5 ing and technical assistance grant, not to exceed 2 

6 years; and 

7 ‘‘(2) in the case of a planning grant, not to ex8 ceed 1 year. 

9 ‘‘(g) COST SHARING.— 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The amount of a grant 

11 awarded under this section shall not exceed 75 per12 cent of the cost of the activities carried out under 

13 the grant. 

14 ‘‘(2) NON-FEDERAL SUPPORT.—An eligible en15 tity receiving a grant under this section shall provide 

16 support of at least 25 percent of the cost of the ac17 tivities carried out under the grant in cash or in18 kind (including, facilities, equipment, training, or 

19 services provided by a State, local, and tribal govern20 ments, institutions of higher education, and private 

21 sources). 

22 ‘‘(h) USE OF FUNDS.— 

23 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—An eligible entity receiving 

24 a grant under this section shall use such funds to 

25 implement or expand, make plans to implement or 


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1 expand, or provide training and technical assistance 

2 to an eligible entity in accordance with paragraph 

3 (2) for the purposes of implementing or expanding, 

4 a farm-to-school program, by— 

5 ‘‘(A) establishing effective relationships 

6 among— 

7 ‘‘(i) schools and local educational 

8 agencies; 

9 ‘‘(ii) distributors; and 

10 ‘‘(iii) small- and medium-sized agri11 cultural operations or groups of such oper12 ations; 

13 ‘‘(B) facilitating the development of enter14 prises to minimally process, as defined by the 

15 Secretary, distribute, aggregate, store, and de16 liver locally or regionally produced agricultural 

17 food products to support community develop18 ment and the income of small- and medium19 sized agricultural operations; 

20 ‘‘(C) acquiring appropriate equipment to 

21 implement or expand a farm-to-school program; 

22 ‘‘(D) developing school fruit and vegetable 

23 gardens for educational and food production 

24 purposes; and 


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1 ‘‘(E) supporting training and education ac2 tivities, including supporting the planning of ex3 periential nutrition education activities and cur4 riculum that— 

5 ‘‘(i) promote healthy food education in 

6 the school curriculum; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) incorporate the participation of 

8 school children in farm- and garden-based 

9 agricultural education activities. 

10 ‘‘(2) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE GRANTS.— 

11 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In the case of an eligi12 ble entity receiving a training and technical as13 sistance grant under this section, the entity 

14 shall use the funds available under the grant to 

15 provide training and technical assistance to an 

16 eligible entity that desires to implement or ex17 pand a farm-to-school program. 

18 ‘‘(B) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSIST19 ANCE ACTIVITIES.—The training and technical 

20 assistance shall— 

21 ‘‘(i) be provided under such terms as 

22 the Secretary may require; and 

23 ‘‘(ii) include supporting the training 

24 and access to resources and information 


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1 necessary for the implementation of a suc2 cessful farm-to-school program. 

3 ‘‘(i) PROGRAM PROPOSALS.— 

4 ‘‘(1) SUBMISSION.—An eligible entity desiring 

5 to receive a grant under this section shall submit a 

6 proposal at such time, in such manner, and con7 taining such information as the Secretary may re8 quire. 

9 ‘‘(2) REVIEW PANELS.—The Secretary shall 

10 form review panels to evaluate proposals submitted 

11 pursuant to paragraph (1) based on the criteria de12 scribed in paragraph (3). Such review panels shall 

13 include— 

14 ‘‘(A) representatives of schools and eligible 

15 institutions; 

16 ‘‘(B) registered dietitians; 

17 ‘‘(C) small- and medium-sized agricultural 

18 operations, including socially disadvantaged 

19 small- and medium-sized agricultural oper20 ations; 

21 ‘‘(D) public agencies; 

22 ‘‘(E) nongovernmental and community23 based organizations with expertise in local food 

24 systems and farm-to-school programs; and 


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1 ‘‘(F) other appropriate parties as deter2 mined by the Secretary. 

3 ‘‘(3) PROPOSAL REVIEW CRITERIA.—A proposal 

4 shall be evaluated based on relevant criteria deter5 mined by the Secretary, and shall include— 

6 ‘‘(A) service to schools and institutions 

7 with a high proportion of children who are eligi8 ble for free and reduced price lunches; 

9 ‘‘(B) benefit to local small- and medium10 sized agricultural operations, including socially 

11 disadvantaged agricultural operations; 

12 ‘‘(C) implementation or expansion of farm13 to-school programs that can be sustained with14 out Federal funds after the end of the grant pe15 riod; 

16 ‘‘(D) incorporation of experiential nutrition 

17 education; 

18 ‘‘(E) demonstration of collaboration be19 tween schools or institutions, nongovernmental 

20 and community-based organizations, agricul21 tural operations and groups of such operations, 

22 and other community partners; 

23 ‘‘(F) evaluation plans that incorporate 

24 stakeholder representation; and 


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1 ‘‘(G) such other related criteria as the Sec2 retary may determine relevant. 

3 ‘‘(j) EVALUATION.—Any eligible entity receiving a 

4 grant under this section shall agree to cooperate in an 

5 evaluation carried out by the Secretary. 

6 ‘‘(k) RULE OF CONSTRUCTION.—Nothing in this sec7 tion shall be construed to authorize grants under this sec8 tion for religious worship, instruction, or proselytization, 

9 or for construction of a facility for religious worship, in10 struction, or proselytization. 

11 ‘‘(l) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

12 are authorized to be appropriated such sums as are nec13 essary to carry out this section for fiscal year 2011 and 

14 each of the 4 succeeding fiscal years, to remain available 

15 until expended. 

16 ‘‘(m) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this section: 

17 ‘‘(1) CHARTER SCHOOL.—The term ‘charter 

18 school’ has the meaning give the term in section 

19 5210 of the Elementary and Secondary Education of 

20 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7221i). 

21 ‘‘(2) ELEMENTARY SCHOOL; SECONDARY

22 SCHOOL; LOCAL EDUCATIONAL AGENCY.—The terms 

23 ‘elementary school’, ‘secondary school’, and ‘local 

24 educational agency’ have the meanings given such 


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1 terms in section 9101 of the Elementary and Sec2 ondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801). 

3 ‘‘(3) FARM-TO-SCHOOL PROGRAM.—The term 

4 ‘farm-to-school program’ means a program that con5 nects schools and small- and medium-sized agricul6 tural operations for the purposes of— 

7 ‘‘(A) serving locally produced, healthy 

8 foods (including fresh fruits and vegetables, 

9 dairy; meat, fish, and poultry, and grains) in 

10 school cafeterias; 

11 ‘‘(B) improving student nutrition; 

12 ‘‘(C) providing agriculture, health, and nu13 trition education opportunities to students; and 

14 ‘‘(D) supporting local and regional agri15 culture and the growth of rural communities. 

16 ‘‘(4) INSTITUTION OF HIGHER EDUCATION.— 

17 The term ‘institution of higher education’ has the 

18 meaning given such term in section 101 of the High19 er Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 1001). 

20 ‘‘(5) LOCAL FOOD.—The term ‘local food’ has 

21 the meaning given the term ‘locally or regionally 

22 produced agricultural food products’ in section 

23 310B(g) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Devel24 opment Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(g)). 


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1 ‘‘(6) SCHOOL.—The term ‘school’ means a pub2 lic elementary school or public secondary school. 

3 ‘‘(7) TRIBAL ORGANIZATION.—The term ‘tribal 

4 organization’ has the meaning given the term in sec5 tion 4 of the Indian Self-Determination and Edu6 cation Assistance Act.’’. 

7 (b) CONFORMING AMENDMENT.—Section 18 of the 

8 Richard B. National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) 

9 is amended by repealing subsection (g). 

10 TITLE II—PARTICIPATION OF 

11 SMALL- AND MEDIUM-SIZED 

12 AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS 

13 IN FARM-TO-SCHOOL PRO14 GRAMS 

15 SEC. 201. IDENTIFICATION OF DEPARTMENT OF AGRI16 CULTURE PROGRAMS AVAILABLE TO PRO17 MOTE PARTICIPATION OF SMALL- AND ME18 DIUM-SIZED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS IN 

19 FARM-TO-SCHOOL PROGRAMS. 

20 (a) IDENTIFICATION OF AVAILABLE PROGRAMS.— 

21 The Secretary shall prepare a list identifying all programs 

22 of the Department of Agriculture that, without modifica23 tion or with only minor modification, can be used to facili24 tate the participation of small- and medium-sized agricul25 tural operations in farm-to-school programs. 


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1 (b) COVERED PROGRAMS.—Among the Department 

2 of Agriculture programs to be considered for inclusion on 

3 the list required by subsection (a), the Secretary shall spe4 cifically evaluate the following: 

5 (1) The rural development programs of the De6 partment of Agriculture. 

7 (2) The loan and loan guarantee programs car8 ried out under the Consolidated Farm and Rural 

9 Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1921 et seq.). 

10 (3) The Value-Added Agricultural Product Mar11 ket Development Grant Program carried out under 

12 section 231 of the Agricultural Risk Protection Act 

13 of 2000 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note; Public Law 106–224). 

14 (4) The Farmers’ Market Promotion Program 

15 carried out under section 6 of the Farmer-to-Con16 sumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976 (7 U.S.C. 

17 3005). 

18 (5) The Federal-State Marketing Improvement 

19 Program carried out under section 204(b) of the Ag20 ricultural Marketing Act of 1946 (7 U.S.C. 

21 1623(b)). 

22 (6) The Specialty Crop Block Grant Program 

23 carried out under section 101 of the Specialty Crops 

24 Competitiveness Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note; 

25 Public Law 108–465). 


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1 (7) The Community Food Projects Program 

2 carried out under section 25 of the Food and Nutri3 tion Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 2034). 

4 (c) ADDITIONAL DETERMINATION REGARDING

5 VALUE-ADDED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCT MARKET DE6 VELOPMENT GRANT PROGRAM.—The Value-Added Agri7 cultural Product Market Development Grant Program 

8 may be accessed by small- and medium-sized agricultural 

9 operations and associations of such operations to support 

10 farm-to-school programs. The Secretary shall promptly 

11 clarify the notification of solicitation of applications under 

12 the program to reflect this determination. 

13 (d) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—Not later than 180 

14 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Sec15 retary of Agriculture shall submit to Congress the list pre16 pared under subsection (a). 

17 SEC. 202. ASSESSMENT OF ECONOMIC IMPACT OF FARM-TO18 SCHOOL PROGRAMS ON SMALL- AND ME19 DIUM-SIZED AGRICULTURAL PRODUCERS 

20 AND RURAL COMMUNITIES. 

21 (a) ASSESSMENT REQUIRED.—The Secretary, acting 

22 through the Economic Research Service of the Depart23 ment of Agriculture, shall conduct a nationwide assess24 ment of the economic impact of farm-to-school programs 


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1 on small- and medium-sized agricultural operations and 

2 rural communities. 

3 (b) CONTENT OF ASSESSMENT.—In conducting the 

4 assessment, the Secretary shall— 

5 (1) examine the role that farm-to-school pro6 grams can play in establishing profitable new mar7 kets for small- and medium-sized agricultural oper8 ations and facilitating their access to new institu9 tional or direct markets and value-added processing 

10 opportunities; 

11 (2) identify barriers that impede the establish12 ment of such profitable markets for small- and me13 dium-sized agricultural operations; and 

14 (3) identify strategies for mitigating such bar15 riers. 

16 (c) SUBMISSION OF RESULTS.—Not later than 1 year 

17 after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary 

18 shall submit to Congress the results of the assessment re19 quired by this section. 

20 TITLE III—INTERAGENCY 

21 COOPERATION 

22 SEC. 301. INTERAGENCY FARM-TO-SCHOOL EXCHANGE. 

23 The Secretary of Agriculture, in collaboration with 

24 the Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health 

25 and Human Services, shall establish an Internet-based 


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1 forum for the sharing and exchange of information on 

2 farm-to-school programs nationwide. Information available 

3 in this Exchange shall include— 

4 (1) an inventory of all projects funded under 

5 the competitive grant program in title II; 

6 (2) an inventory of existing farm-to-school pro7 grams in the United States, which lists— 

8 (A) the agricultural producers and schools 

9 participating in each program; 

10 (B) the number of students served by each 

11 program; 

12 (C) the annual operating cost of each pro13 gram; and 

14 (D) the main contact for the program. 

15 (3) information on best practices in farm-to16 school programs nationwide; and 

17 (4) additional information as determined by the 

18 Secretary of Agriculture, in collaboration with the 

19 Secretary of Education and the Secretary of Health 

20 and Human Services. 

Æ 


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