I 
111TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 4333 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to improve 
the health and well-being of school children, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
DECEMBER 16, 2009 
Mr. FARR (for himself, Mr. PUTNAM, Ms. RICHARDSON, Mr. BLUMENAUER, 
Mr. KAGEN, Mr. MICHAUD, Ms. JACKSON-LEE of Texas, Mr. HINCHEY, 
Ms. MATSUI, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. MORAN of Virginia, Mr. 
COSTA, Mr. SERRANO, Mr. COURTNEY, Ms. HIRONO, and Mrs. CAPPS) 
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 improve the health and well-being of school chil-
dren, and for other purposes. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Children’s Fruit and 
Vegetable Act of 2009’’. 
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SEC. 2. FINDINGS AND PURPOSE. 
(a) FINDINGS.—Congress finds the following: 
(1) Children eat less than half of the daily 
fruits and vegetables recommended for good health 
by the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans. To 
meet those guidelines designed to promote the health 
of children and to lower their risks of chronic dis-
ease and obesity, children need to double their fruit 
and vegetable intake. According to the background 
and purpose of those guidelines many specific dis-
ease and conditions are linked to poor diet and that 
nutrient supplements cannot replace a healthful diet. 
The report notes that ‘‘an array of evidence points 
to beneficial health effects’’ from the increased in-
take of fruits and vegetables. 
(2) Published analysis of the 2005 Dietary 
Guidelines for Americans notes that increased in-
takes of fruit, vegetables, are likely to have impor-
tant health benefits for most Americans. For this 
reason, the Secretary of Agriculture should engage 
in effective marketing, communications, and training 
focused on sharing best practices that result in 
school children eating more fruits and vegetables. 
(3) Schools participating in the national school 
lunch program established under the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 
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et seq.) or the school breakfast program established 
under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 
1771, et seq.) are required to serve meals that are 
consistent with the most recent Dietary Guidelines 
for Americans published under section 301 of the 
National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research 
Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341). However, Nutrition 
Standards and Meal Requirements for the National 
School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast 
Program, have not been updated since 1995. 
(4) Most schools participating in school meal 
programs currently serve meals that contain fewer 
fruits and vegetables than recommended by the Die-
tary Guidelines for Americans published in 2005 
under section 301 of the National Nutrition Moni-
toring and Related Research Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 
5341). 
(5) The Institute of Medicine’s publication enti-
tled School Meals: Building Blocks for Healthy Chil-
dren Report (October 20, 2009), recommends that 
(1) the amount of fruit served in school breakfast be 
doubled to one cup, and (2) the amount of fruits 
and vegetables in school lunch be doubled to one cup 
of fruit and one cup of vegetables every day, and 
that the variety of vegetables served be increased, 
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emphasizing dark green and orange vegetables. The 
Institute of Medicine’s recommendations will align 
the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs 
with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans published 
in 2005 under section 301 of the National Nutrition 
Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990 (7 
U.S.C. 5341) and promote children’s health. The In-
stitute of Medicine’s report also recognizes that im-
proving the quality of school meals, such as adding 
more fruits and vegetables, will require additional 
cafeteria equipment, such as refrigeration, salad bar, 
and fruit and vegetable bars. 
(6) An important goal of the Federal school 
lunch and breakfast programs should include im-
proving the eating habits of children so they can 
meet recommendations set forth in the most recent 
version of the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. 
(7) According to a University of California-Los 
Angeles School of Public Health study published in 
2007 (Public Health Nutrition 10:1490–1496) by 
Dr. Wendelin Slusser, M.D., et al. and later con-
firmed by additional research presented by Dr. 
Havinder Sareen, PhD, MPH to the Centers for 
Disease Control and Prevention in February 2009, 
children who have access to salad bars or fruit and 
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vegetable bars in their school cafeteria eat more 
fruits and vegetables. 
(8) According to the U.S. Department of Agri-
culture only approximately 3 percent of fruits and 
vegetables purchased for the school lunch program 
through the Agricultural Marketing Services com-
modity purchase program are fresh. The Secretary 
of Agriculture is piloting a fresh-cut sliced apple 
program to test the feasibility of purchasing, under 
authority of section 32 of Public Law 74–320, as 
amended (7 U.S.C. 612c), a wide variety of fresh- 
cut fruits and vegetables for school meal programs. 
According to the Agricultural Marketing Service 
press release from September 17, 2009, the fresh- 
cut sliced apple pilot program is a tremendous 
achievement and is extraordinarily popular with 
schools. The Secretary plans to expand the fresh-cut 
apple program and pilot test a baby carrot program 
during the Fall of 2009. 
(9) The American Recovery and Reinvestment 
Act of 2009 (ARRA) (Public Law 111–5) provided 
a one time investment of $100 million for equipment 
assistance to school food authorities participating in 
the National School Lunch Program. This is the 
first Federal infrastructure investment for cafeteria 
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equipment in 25 years. Total requests from schools 
for cafeteria equipment through the ARRA exceeded 
$650 million indicating a strong unmet need for 
Federal support to help schools for equipment that 
lends itself to improving the quality of school food 
service meals that meet the Dietary Guidelines. 
(10) The Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program 
established under Section 19 of the Richard B. Rus-
sell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769a, et 
seq.) has demonstrated successfully that children 
like fresh fruits and vegetables and will increase 
their consumption when a variety of high quality 
fresh fruits and vegetables are available to them in 
school. 
(11) Policy initiatives, such as the Fresh Fruits 
and Vegetable Program, which are designed to im-
prove the school food environment and children’s 
eating habits, should be reinforced with training and 
technical assistance for schools to improve program 
effectiveness. 
(b) PURPOSE.—The purpose of this Act is to estab-
lish a national strategy to improve the nutritional quality 
of school meals served by schools participating in the 
school lunch program established under the Richard B. 
Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1751 et 
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seq.) or the school breakfast program established under 
established under the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 
U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) by increasing access to and consump-
tion of fruits and vegetables by children enrolled in the 
schools through— 
(1) the promotion of the use of salad bars, or 
fruit and vegetable bars, as a strategy to increase 
children’s fruit and vegetable consumption; 
(2) the expansion of the amount of fruits and 
vegetables purchased by the Secretary of Agriculture 
for use in school meals, emphasizing fruits and vege-
tables that are popular with students; 
(3) effective training and technical assistance, 
emphasizing best practices, that will— 
(A) improve the implementation of the 
Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program under sec-
tion 19 of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769a); and 
(B) increase the availability and consump-
tion of fruits and vegetables in school meals; 
(4) infrastructure investment for purchasing 
cafeteria equipment specifically targeted for increas-
ing access to fruits and vegetables and improve the 
quality of school food service meals that meet the 
most recent Dietary Guidelines for Americans pub-
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lished under section 301 of the National Nutrition 
Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990 (7 
U.S.C. 5341); and 
(5) improving the quality of school meals. 
SEC. 3. DEFINITION. 
In this Act, the term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Sec-
retary of Agriculture. 
SEC. 4. INCREASING ACCESS TO FRUITS AND VEGETABLES 
IN SCHOOL CAFETERIAS. 
Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by adding at the 
end the following— 
‘‘(j) ESTABLISHING SALAD BARS AND FRUIT AND 
VEGETABLE BARS.— 
‘‘(1) 
MARKETING
AND
COMMUNICATIONS 
PLAN.—Not later than 90 days after the date of en-
actment of the Children’s Fruit and Vegetable Act 
of 2009, the Secretary shall establish and implement 
a plan to promote the use of salad bars or fruit and 
vegetable bars in schools participating in the school 
lunch program established under this Act. 
‘‘(2) TRAINING AND TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 
plan described in paragraph (1), the Secretary 
shall provide training and technical assistance 
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to State educational agencies and schools on 
how to offer salad bars or fruit and vegetable 
bars. 
‘‘(B) 
COMPREHENSIVE
GUIDANCE.—In 
providing the training and technical assistance 
described in subparagraph (A), the Secretary 
may use relevant guidance provided in the pub-
lication of the Secretary entitled Fruits and 
Vegetables Galore: Helping Kids Eat More 
(2004). 
‘‘(3) INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—In carrying out the 
plan described in paragraph (1), the Secretary 
shall develop a program to provide grants to 
State educational agencies to encourage schools 
in such agencies to purchase equipment and 
modify facilities for the purpose of setting up 
and operating salad bars or fruit and vegetable 
bars. 
‘‘(B) 
ALLOCATION
TO
STATE
EDU-
CATIONAL AGENCIES.—The Secretary shall allo-
cate funds to each State educational agency in 
accordance with a formula developed by the 
Secretary, which shall provide for reallocation 
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of unused funds after the end of each fiscal 
year. 
‘‘(C) APPLICATION.—To receive a grant 
under this subsection, a State educational agen-
cy shall submit to the Secretary an application 
at such time, in such manner, and containing 
such information as the Secretary may require. 
‘‘(D) STATE
EDUCATIONAL
AGENCY
RE-
QUIRED
USES
OF
FUNDS.—Each State edu-
cational agency receiving a grant under this 
subsection shall use the grant funds to— 
‘‘(i) award schools in such State edu-
cational agency a one-time payment equal 
to the anticipated cost of setting up and 
operating a salad bar or fruit and vege-
table bar, or $7,500, whichever is less; and 
‘‘(ii) shall impose appropriate audit 
and reporting requirements, and other pro-
cedures to ensure that funds provided to 
schools by the agency under this subsection 
have been properly used and shall recover 
unused funds, as appropriate. 
‘‘(4) EVALUATION
AND
REPORT.—Not later 
than 18 months following the establishment and exe-
cution of the plan described in paragraph (1), the 
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