I 

115TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION H. R. 7161 

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

a permanent program for the procurement of unprocessed fruits and 

vegetables to provide healthier school meals, and for other purposes. 

IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 

NOVEMBER 16, 2018 

Mr. WELCH introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee 

on Education and the Workforce 

A BILL 

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 

Act to make a permanent program for the procurement 

of unprocessed fruits and vegetables to provide healthier 

school meals, and for other purposes. 

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 ‘‘Local School Foods 

5 Expansion Act of 2018’’. 

6 SEC. 2. HELPING SCHOOLS SERVE HEALTHIER MEALS. 

7 Section 6(f) of the Richard B. Russell National 

8 School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1755(f)) is amended— 


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1 (1) in the heading, by striking ‘‘PILOT

2 PROJECT FOR PROCUREMENT OF UNPROCESSED

3 FRUITS AND VEGETABLES’’ and inserting ‘‘PRO4 GRAM FOR PROCUREMENT OF DOMESTICALLY

5 GROWN UNPROCESSED FRUITS AND VEGETABLES’’; 

6 (2) by striking ‘‘pilot project’’ each place it ap7 pears and inserting ‘‘program’’; 

8 (3) by amending paragraph (1) to read as fol9 lows: 

10 ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall carry 

11 out a program to facilitate the procurement of do12 mestically grown unprocessed fruits and vegetables 

13 in not fewer than 15 States receiving funds under 

14 this Act.’’; 

15 (4) in paragraph (2), by inserting ‘‘domestically 

16 grown’’ before ‘‘unprocessed’’; 

17 (5) in paragraph (4)— 

18 (A) in subparagraph (B), by striking 

19 ‘‘and’’ at the end; 

20 (B) in subparagraph (C), by striking the 

21 period at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

22 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

23 ‘‘(D) the demonstrated ability of the States 

24 to competitively procure the domestically grown 

25 unprocessed fruits and vegetables.’’; 


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1 (6) in paragraph (5)— 

2 (A) in the heading, by striking ‘‘AND RE3 PORTING REQUIREMENTS’’ and inserting ‘‘, RE4 PORTING REQUIREMENTS, AND EVALUATIONS’’; 

5 (B) in subparagraph (B)— 

6 (i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 

7 the end; 

8 (ii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe9 riod and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 

10 (iii) by adding at the end the fol11 lowing: 

12 ‘‘(iii) the States’ assessment of the 

13 challenges and opportunities presented by 

14 the program.’’; and 

15 (C) by adding at the end the following: 

16 ‘‘(C) PROGRAM EVALUATION.— 

17 ‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 

18 years after the date of the enactment of 

19 this subparagraph, the Secretary shall 

20 evaluate the impact of the program, includ21 ing information on— 

22 ‘‘(I) the quantity and cost of 

23 each type of unprocessed fruit and 

24 vegetable procured by each State 

25 under the program; 


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1 ‘‘(II) the benefit of such procure2 ment in conducting school food service 

3 in each such State, including meeting 

4 school meal requirements; and 

5 ‘‘(III) the economic impact the 

6 program has had on agricultural pro7 ducers in each such State. 

8 ‘‘(ii) REPORT.—Not later than 4 

9 years after the date of enactment of this 

10 subparagraph, the Secretary shall submit 

11 to the Committee on Agriculture of the 

12 House Representatives and the Committee 

13 on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of 

14 the Senate a report that includes the re15 sults and an analysis of the evaluation re16 quired under clause (i).’’; and 

17 (7) by adding at the end the following new 

18 paragraph: 

19 ‘‘(6) FUNDING.— 

20 ‘‘(A) MANDATORY FUNDING.—There is ap21 propriated to carry out this section 

22 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 

23 through 2023. 

24 ‘‘(B) RESERVATION.—Of the funds appro25 priated under subparagraph (A) for a fiscal 


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1 year, $10,000,000 shall be reserved for States 

2 selected pursuant to paragraph (1) to carry out 

3 State program administration and provide tech4 nical assistance and outreach to vendors to be5 come certified to participate in the program 

6 under this section. 

7 ‘‘(C) MINIMUM ALLOTMENT.—Of the 

8 funds reserved under subparagraph (B), each 

9 State selected pursuant to paragraph (1) shall 

10 receive not less than $300,000 for each fiscal 

11 year during which such State participates in the 

12 program under this section.’’. 

Æ 


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