SEC. 
2. 
PILOT 
PROGRAM 
FOR 
GRANTS 
PROMOTING 
SCRATCH COOKING IN SCHOOL MEAL PRO-
GRAMS. 
Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 
Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by inserting be-
fore subsection (b) the following new subsection: 
‘‘(a) SCRATCH COOKING PILOT PROGRAM.— 
‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.— 
‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT.—Not later than 
180 days after the date of the enactment of this 
subsection, the Secretary shall establish a pilot 
program to award competitive grants to school 
food authorities to promote scratch cooking. 
‘‘(B) SCRATCH
COOKING
DEFINED.—In 
this subsection, the term ‘scratch cooking’ 
means the preparation of food using ingredients 
that are unprocessed or minimally processed. 
‘‘(2) GRANT
AMOUNTS
AND
DURATION.—A 
grant awarded under this subsection shall be made 
for a period of 2 school years. 
‘‘(3) ELIGIBLE USES.—A grant awarded under 
this subsection shall be used by a school food au-
thority to promote scratch cooking, which may in-
clude— 
‘‘(A) promoting professional development 
and training related to preparing, procuring, 
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advertising, serving, and creating menus of 
meals made with scratch cooking; 
‘‘(B) purchasing cafeteria equipment or 
making infrastructure modifications necessary 
for scratch cooking; 
‘‘(C) employee compensation for additional 
food preparation necessary for scratch cooking; 
‘‘(D) providing technical assistance, pupil 
engagement, and education related to scratch 
cooking, such as taste tests, recipe development, 
and culinary education; 
‘‘(E) investing in software and technology 
systems for procurement to support scratch 
cooking; and 
‘‘(F) carrying out any additional activities 
to promote scratch cooking that will help school 
food authorities meet or exceed the nutrition 
standards for the school lunch program author-
ized under this Act and the school breakfast 
program established by section 4 of the Child 
Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 
‘‘(4) PRIORITY.—In evaluating grant applica-
tions under this subsection, the Secretary shall give 
the highest priority to school food authorities that— 
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‘‘(A) serve the greatest proportion of stu-
dents eligible for free or reduced price lunch 
under this Act; 
‘‘(B) are— 
‘‘(i) self-operated; or 
‘‘(ii) provide an assurance to the Sec-
retary that the school food authority will 
be self-operated on or before the date that 
is 1 year before the last day of the grant 
period; and 
‘‘(C) either— 
‘‘(i) have employees who are rep-
resented by a collective bargaining agree-
ment or memorandum of understanding, if 
such employees are permitted by law to be 
so represented; or 
‘‘(ii) provide an assurance to the Sec-
retary that the school food authority will, 
with respect to the employees of such 
school food authority, negotiate a collective 
bargaining agreement or memorandum of 
understanding on or before the date that is 
1 year before the last day of the grant pe-
riod. 
‘‘(5) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
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‘‘(A) IN
GENERAL.—The Secretary shall 
enter into an agreement with one or more non-
profit organizations to establish and carry out 
a technical assistance and resource center to 
provide technical assistance with respect to car-
rying out subparagraphs (A) through (C) of 
paragraph (3). 
‘‘(B) COLLABORATION REQUIREMENT.—As 
soon as practicable after receiving a grant 
under this subsection, a school food authority 
shall collaborate with the technical assistance 
and resource center established under subpara-
graph (A) to— 
‘‘(i) conduct a needs assessment to 
evaluate equipment needs, equipment utili-
zation, procurement processes, and work-
force capabilities of the school food author-
ity; and 
‘‘(ii) based on such needs assessment, 
establish a strategic plan to carry out the 
grant under this subsection. 
‘‘(6) REPORT.—Not later than 180 days after 
the conclusion of the grant period described in para-
graph (2), each school food authority that receives 
a grant under this subsection shall submit to the 
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Secretary a report that includes, with respect to 
such school food authority, the change at the end of 
the grant period, as compared with the school year 
immediately preceding the beginning of the grant pe-
riod, in— 
‘‘(A) the percentage of whole ingredients, 
raw ingredients, or both, as a share of total ex-
penditures used in school meals; and 
‘‘(B) the percentage of menu items pre-
pared with scratch cooking. 
‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 
‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—There is authorized to 
be appropriated to carry out this subsection 
$20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 
through 2028. 
‘‘(B) RESERVATIONS.—Of the amounts 
made available under subparagraph (A), the 
Secretary shall reserve— 
‘‘(i) not more than 15 percent for pur-
poses of carrying out paragraph (5), in-
cluding administrative expenses; and 
‘‘(ii) not more than 5 percent for 
other administrative expenses of the Sec-
retary.’’. 
Æ 
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