I 

117TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 6608 

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 

FEBRUARY 4, 2022 

Mrs. HAYES (for herself, Ms. BROWNLEY, Mrs. MCBATH, and Mr. 

FITZPATRICK) 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 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 and local educational agencies 

14 to promote scratch cooking. 

15 ‘‘(B) SCRATCH COOKING DEFINED.—In 

16 this subsection, the term ‘scratch cooking’ 

17 means the preparation of food using ingredients 

18 that are unprocessed or minimally processed. 

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

20 grant awarded under this subsection shall be 

21 made— 

22 ‘‘(A) for a period of 2 school years; and 

23 ‘‘(B) in 1 installment in the first school 

24 year and 1 installment in the second school 

25 year, with each such installment equal to or less 

26 than $100,000. 


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

2 this subsection shall be used by a school food au3 thority or local educational agency to promote 

4 scratch cooking, which may include— 

5 ‘‘(A) promoting professional development 

6 and training related to preparing, procuring, 

7 advertising, serving, and creating menus of 

8 meals made with scratch cooking; 

9 ‘‘(B) purchasing cafeteria equipment or 

10 making infrastructure modifications necessary 

11 for scratch cooking; 

12 ‘‘(C) employee compensation for additional 

13 food preparation necessary for scratch cooking; 

14 and 

15 ‘‘(D) providing technical assistance, pupil 

16 engagement, and education related to scratch 

17 cooking, such as taste tests, recipe development, 

18 and culinary education. 

19 ‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In evaluating grant applica20 tions under this subsection, the Secretary shall give 

21 the highest priority to school food authorities and 

22 local educational agencies that— 

23 ‘‘(A) serve the greatest proportion of stu24 dents eligible for free or reduced price lunch 

25 under this Act; 


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1 ‘‘(B) are— 

2 ‘‘(i) self-operated; or 

3 ‘‘(ii) provide an assurance to the Sec4 retary that the school food authority or 

5 local educational agency will be self-oper6 ated on or before the date that is 1 year 

7 before the last day of the grant period; and 

8 ‘‘(C) either— 

9 ‘‘(i) have employees who are rep10 resented by a collective bargaining agree11 ment or memorandum of understanding; or 

12 ‘‘(ii) provide an assurance to the Sec13 retary that the school food authority or 

14 local educational agency will, with respect 

15 to the employees of such school food au16 thority or local educational agency, nego17 tiate a collective bargaining agreement or 

18 memorandum of understanding on or be19 fore the date that is 1 year before the last 

20 day of the grant period. 

21 ‘‘(5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 

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

23 enter into an agreement with one or more non24 profit organizations to establish and carry out 

25 a technical assistance and resource center to 


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1 provide technical assistance with respect to car2 rying out subparagraphs (A) through (C) of 

3 paragraph (3). 

4 ‘‘(B) COLLABORATION REQUIREMENT.—As 

5 soon as practicable after receiving a grant 

6 under this subsection, a school food authority 

7 or local educational agency shall collaborate 

8 with the technical assistance and resource cen9 ter established under subparagraph (A) to— 

10 ‘‘(i) conduct a needs assessment to 

11 evaluate equipment needs, equipment utili12 zation, procurement processes, and work13 force capabilities of the school food author14 ity or local educational agency; and 

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

16 establish a strategic plan to carry out the 

17 grant under this subsection. 

18 ‘‘(6) REPORTING REQUIREMENTS.—Each school 

19 food authority and local educational agency that re20 ceives a grant under this subsection shall report to 

21 the Secretary at the end of the grant period— 

22 ‘‘(A) the change, from the beginning of the 

23 grant period, in the overall percentage of the 20 

24 most expensive procurement items with whole 

25 ingredients, raw ingredients, or both; 


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1 ‘‘(B) the change, from the beginning of the 

2 grant period, in the overall percentage of pro3 cured food items that are locally procured; 

4 ‘‘(C) the change, from the beginning of the 

5 grant period, in the overall percentage of menu 

6 items in a 4-week menu cycle prepared with 

7 scratch cooking; 

8 ‘‘(D) the change, from the beginning of the 

9 grant period, in the overall percentage of pack10 aging that is single-serve packaging; 

11 ‘‘(E) the change, from the beginning of the 

12 grant period, to overall culinary, fiscal, procure13 ment, and management operations; and 

14 ‘‘(F) the change, from the beginning of the 

15 grant period, in the overall percentage of stu16 dents who participate in the school lunch pro17 gram under this Act. 

18 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 

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

20 be appropriated to carry out this subsection 

21 $20,000,000 for the first fiscal year beginning 

22 after the date of the enactment of this sub23 section and for each of the four subsequent fis24 cal years. 


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1 ‘‘(B) RESERVATIONS.—Of the amounts 

2 made available under subparagraph (A), the 

3 Secretary shall reserve— 

4 ‘‘(i) not more than 15 percent for pur5 poses of carrying out paragraph (5), in6 cluding administrative expenses; and 

7 ‘‘(ii) not more than 5 percent for 

8 other administrative expenses of the Sec9 retary.’’. 

Æ 


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