H. R. 2419—203 
section shall not be considered to be income or resources for any 
purposes under any Federal, State, or local law.’’; and 
(3) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(d) PROHIBITION ON COLLECTION OF SALES TAX.—Each State 
shall ensure that no State or local tax is collected within the 
State on a purchase of food with a benefit distributed under the 
seniors farmers’ market nutrition program. 
‘‘(e) REGULATIONS.—The Secretary may promulgate such regula-
tions as the Secretary considers to be necessary to carry out the 
seniors farmers’ market nutrition program.’’. 
Subtitle C—Child Nutrition and Related 
Programs 
SEC. 
4301. 
STATE 
PERFORMANCE 
ON 
ENROLLING 
CHILDREN 
RECEIVING PROGRAM BENEFITS FOR FREE SCHOOL 
MEALS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—Not later than December 31, 2008 and June 
30 of each year thereafter, the Secretary shall submit to the 
Committees on Agriculture and Education and Labor of the House 
of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, 
and Forestry of the Senate a report that assesses the effectiveness 
of each State in enrolling school-aged children in households 
receiving program benefits under the Food and Nutrition Act of 
2008 (7 U.S.C. 2011 et seq.) (referred to in this section as ‘‘program 
benefits’’) for free school meals using direct certification. 
(b) SPECIFIC MEASURES.—The assessment of the Secretary of 
the performance of each State shall include— 
(1) an estimate of the number of school-aged children, 
by State, who were members of a household receiving program 
benefits at any time in July, August, or September of the 
prior year; 
(2) an estimate of the number of school-aged children, 
by State, who were directly certified as eligible for free lunches 
under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 
U.S.C. 1751 et seq.), based on receipt of program benefits, 
as of October 1 of the prior year; and 
(3) an estimate of the number of school-aged children, 
by State, who were members of a household receiving program 
benefits at any time in July, August, or September of the 
prior year who were not candidates for direct certification 
because on October 1 of the prior year the children attended 
a school operating under the special assistance provisions of 
section 11(a)(1) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(a)(1)) that is not operating in a base 
year. 
(c) PERFORMANCE INNOVATIONS.—The report of the Secretary 
shall describe best practices from States with the best performance 
or the most improved performance from the previous year. 
SEC. 4302. PURCHASES OF LOCALLY PRODUCED FOODS. 
Section 9(j) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(j)) is amended to read as follows: 
‘‘(j) PURCHASES OF LOCALLY PRODUCED FOODS.—The Secretary 
shall—
H. R. 2419—204 
‘‘(1) encourage institutions receiving funds under this Act 
and the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) 
to purchase unprocessed agricultural products, both locally 
grown and locally raised, to the maximum extent practicable 
and appropriate; 
‘‘(2) advise institutions participating in a program described 
in paragraph (1) of the policy described in that paragraph 
and paragraph (3) and post information concerning the policy 
on the website maintained by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(3) allow institutions receiving funds under this Act and 
the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.), 
including the Department of Defense Fresh Fruit and Vegetable 
Program, to use a geographic preference for the procurement 
of unprocessed agricultural products, both locally grown and 
locally raised.’’. 
SEC. 
4303. 
HEALTHY 
FOOD 
EDUCATION 
AND 
PROGRAM 
REPLICABILITY. 
Section 18(h) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act (42 U.S.C. 1769(h)) is amended— 
(1) in paragraph (1)(C), by inserting ‘‘promotes healthy 
food education in the school curriculum and’’ before ‘‘incor-
porates’’; 
(2) by redesignating paragraph (2) as paragraph (4); and 
(3) by inserting after paragraph (1) the following: 
‘‘(2) ADMINISTRATION.—In providing grants under para-
graph (1), the Secretary shall give priority to projects that 
can be replicated in schools. 
‘‘(3) PILOT PROGRAM FOR HIGH-POVERTY SCHOOLS.— 
‘‘(A) DEFINITIONS.—In this paragraph: 
‘‘(i) ELIGIBLE
PROGRAM.—The term ‘eligible pro-
gram’ means— 
‘‘(I) a school-based program with hands-on 
vegetable gardening and nutrition education that 
is incorporated into the curriculum for 1 or more 
grades at 2 or more eligible schools; or 
‘‘(II) a community-based summer program 
with hands-on vegetable gardening and nutrition 
education that is part of, or coordinated with, a 
summer enrichment program at 2 or more eligible 
schools. 
‘‘(ii) ELIGIBLE SCHOOL.—The term ‘eligible school’ 
means a public school, at least 50 percent of the stu-
dents of which are eligible for free or reduced price 
meals under this Act. 
‘‘(B) ESTABLISHMENT.—The Secretary shall carry out 
a pilot program under which the Secretary shall provide 
to nonprofit organizations or public entities in not more 
than 5 States grants to develop and run, through eligible 
programs, community gardens at eligible schools in the 
States that would— 
‘‘(i) be planted, cared for, and harvested by stu-
dents at the eligible schools; and 
‘‘(ii) teach the students participating in the commu-
nity gardens about agriculture production practices and 
diet.
H. R. 2419—205 
‘‘(C) PRIORITY STATES.—Of the States in which grantees 
under this paragraph are located— 
‘‘(i) at least 1 State shall be among the 15 largest 
States, as determined by the Secretary; 
‘‘(ii) at least 1 State shall be among the 16th 
to 30th largest States, as determined by the Secretary; 
and 
‘‘(iii) at least 1 State shall be a State that is 
not described in clause (i) or (ii). 
‘‘(D) USE
OF
PRODUCE.—Produce from a community 
garden provided a grant under this paragraph may be— 
‘‘(i) used to supplement food provided at the eligible 
school; 
‘‘(ii) distributed to students to bring home to the 
families of the students; or 
‘‘(iii) donated to a local food bank or senior center 
nutrition program. 
‘‘(E) NO
COST-SHARING
REQUIREMENT.—A nonprofit 
organization or public entity that receives a grant under 
this paragraph shall not be required to share the cost 
of carrying out the activities assisted under this paragraph. 
‘‘(F) EVALUATION.—A nonprofit organization or public 
entity that receives a grant under this paragraph shall 
be required to cooperate in an evaluation in accordance 
with paragraph (1)(H).’’. 
SEC. 4304. FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PROGRAM. 
(a) PROGRAM.— 
(1) IN GENERAL.—The Richard B. Russell National School 
Lunch Act is amended by inserting after section 18 (42 U.S.C. 
1769) the following: 
‘‘SEC. 19. FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PROGRAM. 
‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—For the school year beginning July 2008 
and each subsequent school year, the Secretary shall provide grants 
to States to carry out a program to make free fresh fruits and 
vegetables available in elementary schools (referred to in this sec-
tion as the ‘program’). 
‘‘(b) PROGRAM.—A school participating in the program shall 
make free fresh fruits and vegetables available to students through-
out the school day (or at such other times as are considered appro-
priate by the Secretary) in 1 or more areas designated by the 
school. 
‘‘(c) FUNDING TO STATES.— 
‘‘(1) MINIMUM GRANT.—Except as provided in subsection 
(i)(2), the Secretary shall provide to each of the 50 States 
and the District of Columbia an annual grant in an amount 
equal to 1 percent of the funds made available for a year 
to carry out the program. 
‘‘(2) ADDITIONAL FUNDING.—Of the funds remaining after 
grants are made under paragraph (1), the Secretary shall allo-
cate additional funds to each State that is operating a school 
lunch program under section 4 based on the proportion that— 
‘‘(A) the population of the State; bears to 
‘‘(B) the population of the United States. 
‘‘(d) SELECTION OF SCHOOLS.—
H. R. 2419—206 
‘‘(1) IN
GENERAL.—Except as provided in paragraph (2) 
of this subsection and section 4304(a)(2) of the Food, Conserva-
tion, and Energy Act of 2008, each year, in selecting schools 
to participate in the program, each State shall— 
‘‘(A) ensure that each school chosen to participate in 
the program is a school— 
‘‘(i) in which not less than 50 percent of the stu-
dents are eligible for free or reduced price meals under 
this Act; and 
‘‘(ii) that submits an application in accordance with 
subparagraph (D); 
‘‘(B) to the maximum extent practicable, give the 
highest priority to schools with the highest proportion of 
children who are eligible for free or reduced price meals 
under this Act; 
‘‘(C) ensure that each school selected is an elementary 
school (as defined in section 9101 of the Elementary and 
Secondary Education Act of 1965 (20 U.S.C. 7801)); 
‘‘(D) solicit applications from interested schools that 
include— 
‘‘(i) information pertaining to the percentage of 
students enrolled in the school submitting the applica-
tion who are eligible for free or reduced price school 
lunches under this Act; 
‘‘(ii) a certification of support for participation in 
the program signed by the school food manager, the 
school principal, and the district superintendent (or 
equivalent positions, as determined by the school); 
‘‘(iii) a plan for implementation of the program, 
including efforts to integrate activities carried out 
under this section with other efforts to promote sound 
health and nutrition, reduce overweight and obesity, 
or promote physical activity; and 
‘‘(iv) such other information as may be requested 
by the Secretary; and 
‘‘(E) encourage applicants to submit a plan for 
implementation of the program that includes a partnership 
with 1 or more entities that will provide non-Federal 
resources (including entities representing the fruit and 
vegetable industry). 
‘‘(2) EXCEPTION.—Clause (i) of paragraph (1)(A) shall not 
apply to a State if all schools that meet the requirements 
of that clause have been selected and the State does not have 
a sufficient number of additional schools that meet the require-
ment of that clause. 
‘‘(3) OUTREACH TO LOW-INCOME SCHOOLS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—Prior to making decisions regarding 
school participation in the program, a State agency shall 
inform the schools within the State with the highest propor-
tion of free and reduced price meal eligibility, including 
Native American schools, of the eligibility of the schools 
for the program with respect to priority granted to schools 
with the highest proportion of free and reduced price eligi-
bility under paragraph (1)(B). 
‘‘(B) 
REQUIREMENT.—In 
providing 
information 
to 
schools in accordance with subparagraph (A), a State