II 

110TH CONGRESS 

1ST SESSION S. 1031 

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to provide 

coordination and direction for commodity programs, and to ensure the 

distribution of fresh fruits and vegetables to schools and service institutions in the United States. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

MARCH 29, 2007 

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

to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry 

A BILL 

To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 

of 2002 to provide coordination and direction for commodity programs, and to ensure the distribution of fresh 

fruits and vegetables to schools and service institutions 

in the United States. 

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 ‘‘School Food Fresh 

5 Act of 2007’’. 

6 SEC. 2. DEFINITIONS. 

7 In this Act: 

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1 (1) COMMODITY PROGRAM.—The term ‘‘com2 modity program’’ means any of— 

3 (A) the commodity supplemental food pro4 gram established under section 5 of the Agri5 culture and Consumer Protection Act of 1973 

6 (7 U.S.C. 612c note; Public Law 93–86); 

7 (B) the food distribution program on In8 dian reservations established under section 4(b) 

9 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 U.S.C. 

10 2013(b)); 

11 (C) the emergency food assistance program 

12 established under the Emergency Food Assist13 ance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.) and 

14 section 27 of the Food Stamp Act of 1977 (7 

15 U.S.C. 2036); 

16 (D) the school lunch program established 

17 under the Richard B. Russell National School 

18 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq.); 

19 (E) the summer food service program for 

20 children established under section 13 of that 

21 Act (42 U.S.C. 1761); 

22 (F) the child and adult care food program 

23 established under section 17 of that Act (42 

24 U.S.C. 1766); and 

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1 (G) the school breakfast program estab2 lished under section 4 of that Act (42 U.S.C. 

3 1773). 

4 (2) DEPARTMENT.—The term ‘‘Department’’ 

5 means the Department of Agriculture. 

6 (3) SECRETARY.—The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means 

7 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

8 (4) TASK FORCE.—The term ‘‘Task Force’’ 

9 means the multiagency task force established under 

10 section 3(a). 

11 SEC. 3. MULTIAGENCY TASK FORCE. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish, in 

13 the office of the Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition, and 

14 Consumer Services, a multiagency task force for the pur15 pose of providing coordination and direction for com16 modity programs. 

17 (b) COMPOSITION.—The Task Force shall be com18 posed of at least 4 members, including— 

19 (1) a representative from the Food Distribution 

20 Division of the Food and Nutrition Service, who 

21 shall— 

22 (A) be appointed by the Under Secretary 

23 for Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services; 

24 and 

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1 (B) serve as Chairperson of the Task 

2 Force; 

3 (2) at least 1 representative from the Agricul4 tural Marketing Service, who shall be appointed by 

5 the Under Secretary for Marketing and Regulatory 

6 Programs; 

7 (3) at least 1 representative from the Farm 

8 Services Agency, who shall be appointed by the 

9 Under Secretary for Farm and Foreign Agricultural 

10 Services; and 

11 (4) at least 1 representative from the Food 

12 Safety and Inspection Service, who shall be ap13 pointed by the Under Secretary for Food Safety. 

14 (c) DUTIES.— 

15 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Task Force shall be re16 sponsible for evaluation and monitoring of the com17 modity programs to ensure that the commodity pro18 grams meet the mission of the Department— 

19 (A) to support the United States farm sec20 tor; 

21 (B) to comply with the most recent Die22 tary Guidelines for Americans published under 

23 section 301 of the National Nutrition Moni24 toring and Related Research Act of 1990 (7 

25 U.S.C. 5341); and 

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1 (C) to contribute to the health and well2 being of individuals in the United States 

3 through the distribution of domestic agricul4 tural products through commodity programs. 

5 (2) SPECIFIC DUTIES.—In carrying out para6 graph (1), the Task Force shall— 

7 (A) review and make recommendations re8 garding the specifications used for the procure9 ment of food commodities, taking into consider10 ation recommendations based on the results of 

11 evaluations carried out using grants made avail12 able under section 4; 

13 (B) review and make recommendations re14 garding the effective distribution of food com15 modities; 

16 (C) review and make recommendations re17 garding efficient and effective systems to ensure 

18 the best use of Federal funds to maximize the 

19 quantity and quality of foods purchased for re20 cipient agencies and the best use of those pur21 chased foods by recipient agencies; and 

22 (D) on the request of the Secretary, review 

23 and make recommendations regarding future 

24 updates of the Dietary Guidelines for Ameri25 cans published under section 301 of the Namstockstill on PROD1PC66 with BILLS

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1 tional Nutrition Monitoring and Related Re2 search Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341). 

3 (d) REPORT.—Not later than 1 year after the date 

4 of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter, the Sec5 retary shall submit to Congress a report that describes, 

6 for the period covered by the report— 

7 (1) the findings and recommendations of the 

8 Task Force; and 

9 (2) policies implemented for the betterment of 

10 commodity programs. 

11 SEC. 4. GRANTS FOR SPECIFICATION DEVELOPMENT. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 1 year after the 

13 date of enactment of this Act, the Secretary shall provide 

14 5 competitive grants to nonprofit research institutions (in15 cluding research universities) selected by the Secretary for 

16 use in evaluating the product specifications of food com17 modity products procured through commodity programs to 

18 determine— 

19 (1) the consistency of those specifications with 

20 the nutritional goals of the commodity program; 

21 (2) the acceptability of the products procured 

22 under the specifications by recipient agencies and 

23 consumers; and 

24 (3) the extent to which food commodities pur25 chased through commodity programs are comparable 

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1 to any commercial counterparts to those commod2 ities. 

3 (b) TYPES OF GRANTS.—Of the 5 grants provided 

4 under subsection (a), a grant shall be provided for the 

5 evaluation and recommendation of product specifications 

6 for each of the categories of— 

7 (1) fruits and vegetables; 

8 (2) meat; 

9 (3) poultry; 

10 (4) grains, nuts, and oils; and 

11 (5) dairy products. 

12 (c) REPORT.—Not later than 18 months after the 

13 date on which the Secretary provides a grant under this 

14 section, the recipient of the grant shall submit to the Sec15 retary and the Task Force a report that— 

16 (1) describes the results of evaluations carried 

17 out using funds from the grant; and 

18 (2) includes recommendations based on those 

19 results. 

20 (d) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 

21 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 

22 $2,500,000. 

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1 SEC. 5. USDA SCHOOL FOOD FRESH PROGRAM. 

2 Section 10603 of the Farm Security and Rural In3 vestment Act of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 612c–4) is amended to 

4 read as follows: 

5 ‘‘SEC. 10603. PURCHASE OF SPECIALTY CROPS. 

6 ‘‘(a) DEFINITIONS.—In this section: 

7 ‘‘(1) FRUITS, VEGETABLES, OTHER SPECIALTY

8 FOOD CROPS.—The terms ‘fruits’, ‘vegetables’, and 

9 ‘other specialty food crops’ shall have the meaning 

10 given the terms by the Secretary of Agriculture. 

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

12 the Secretary of Agriculture. 

13 ‘‘(3) SERVICE INSTITUTION.—The term ‘service 

14 institution’ has the meaning given the term in sec15 tion 13(a) of the Richard B. Russell National School 

16 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)). 

17 ‘‘(b) PURCHASE AUTHORITY.—Of the funds made 

18 available under section 32 of the Act of August 24, 1935 

19 (7 U.S.C. 612c), for fiscal year 2008 and each subsequent 

20 fiscal year, the Secretary shall use not less than 

21 $200,000,000 each fiscal year to purchase fruits, vegeta22 bles, and other specialty food crops. 

23 ‘‘(c) USDA SCHOOL FOOD FRESH PROGRAM.— 

24 ‘‘(1) DEFINITION OF ELIGIBLE PRODUCT.—In 

25 this subsection, the term ‘eligible product’ means a 

26 fruit or vegetable item that— 

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1 ‘‘(A) is offered by a vendor approved by 

2 the Secretary under paragraph (4); 

3 ‘‘(B) is fresh, dried, or frozen in a manner 

4 that maximizes retention of nutrient density; 

5 and 

6 ‘‘(C) to the maximum extent practicable, 

7 reflects local preferences and supports local ag8 riculture. 

9 ‘‘(2) AGREEMENTS.—The Secretary, acting 

10 through such regional procurement offices of the De11 partment of Agriculture as the Secretary determines 

12 to be appropriate, shall carry out a program under 

13 which the Secretary shall enter into agreements with 

14 local and regional distributors to supply eligible 

15 products to schools and service institutions. 

16 ‘‘(3) FUNDS.—Eligible products supplied under 

17 an agreement described in paragraph (2) shall be 

18 purchased by schools and service institutions using 

19 funds that are allocated to the schools or service in20 stitutions for the purpose of— 

21 ‘‘(A) purchasing fruits and vegetables; or 

22 ‘‘(B) providing nutritious meals. 

23 ‘‘(4) VENDORS.— 

24 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A local or regional 

25 distributor of eligible products that seeks to 

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1 supply eligible products to schools and service 

2 institutions under this subsection shall apply to 

3 the Secretary for approval as a participating 

4 vendor. 

5 ‘‘(B) CONDITIONS FOR APPROVAL.—The 

6 Secretary shall approve a vendor as eligible to 

7 supply eligible products under this subsection if 

8 the vendor— 

9 ‘‘(i) demonstrates the ability to supply 

10 those eligible products; 

11 ‘‘(ii) complies with standards for food 

12 safety developed by the Secretary; 

13 ‘‘(iii) consistently provides products 

14 that meet standards of grade, size, 

15 freshness, and quality as required by the 

16 Secretary or a local procurement officer; 

17 and 

18 ‘‘(iv) demonstrates the ability to sup19 ply eligible products from local growers 

20 and processors. 

21 ‘‘(C) MONITORING.— 

22 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary 

23 shall develop and implement a system for 

24 monitoring vendors approved under this 

25 paragraph. 

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1 ‘‘(ii) CERTIFICATION.—A monitoring 

2 system under clause (i) may include a re3 quirement to obtain certification— 

4 ‘‘(I) in accordance with a pro5 gram designed by the Secretary; and 

6 ‘‘(II) for which the Secretary 

7 may require compensation. 

8 ‘‘(5) FUNDING.— 

9 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Of the amount speci10 fied in subsection (b), the Secretary shall use 

11 not less than $50,000,000 each fiscal year for 

12 the purchase of eligible products for distribu13 tion to schools and service institutions in ac14 cordance with section 6(a) of the Richard B. 

15 Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

16 1755(a)). 

17 ‘‘(B) ADDITIONAL AVAILABLE FUNDS.—A 

18 school or service institution that uses an agree19 ment described in paragraph (2) to purchase el20 igible products may allocate up to 30 percent of 

21 the funds of the school or service institution au22 thorized under section 6 of the Richard B. Rus23 sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 

24 1755), and such additional funds as are nec25 essary from funds allocated to the school or 

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1 service institution under sections 4 and 11 of 

2 that Act (42 U.S.C. 1753, 1759a), for the pur3 pose of procuring eligible products through ven4 dors approved by the Secretary under para5 graph (4). 

6 ‘‘(C) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS

7 FOR ADMINISTRATIVE EXPENSES.—There are 

8 authorized to be appropriated such sums as are 

9 necessary to pay administrative costs incurred 

10 in carrying out this subsection.’’. 

11 SEC. 6. USE OF COMMODITY ENTITLEMENT FUNDS. 

12 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall, to the max13 imum extent practicable, purchase for commodity pro14 grams foods that are in the least-processed state. 

15 (b) PROCESSING OF FOODS.—The Secretary, upon 

16 the approval of national processing agreements, shall 

17 make available to all schools and other recipient agencies 

18 the opportunity to divert unprocessed or minimally-proc19 essed commodity foods to subsequent processors for con20 version into usable end products. 

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