I 
112TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 1722 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to create 
a local food credit program. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
MAY 4, 2011 
Ms. PINGREE of Maine (for herself, Mr. CONNOLLY of Virginia, Mr. STARK, 
Mr. WELCH, and Mr. MCGOVERN) 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 create a local food credit program. 
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 ‘‘Eat Local Foods Act’’. 
SEC. 2. LOCAL FOOD CREDIT PROGRAM. 
Section 6(c) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1755(c)) is amended by add-
ing at the end the following: 
‘‘(3) LOCAL FOOD CREDIT PROGRAM.— 
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‘‘(A) ESTABLISHMENT OF PROGRAM.—Be-
ginning with the school year ending in 2013, 
the Secretary shall establish and carry out a 
program under which the Secretary, not later 
than the beginning of each school year, shall 
provide a grant to each participating State 
agency to provide to each participating school 
food authority under the jurisdiction of the 
State agency, local food credits in an amount 
equal to not more than 10 percent of the total 
value of the commodity assistance (or cash pay-
ments in lieu thereof) that the authority would 
be eligible to receive under paragraph (2) for 
such school year, in lieu of such amount of 
commodity assistance (or cash payments in lieu 
thereof). 
‘‘(B) REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATING 
SCHOOL
FOOD
AUTHORITIES.—Each partici-
pating school food authority shall— 
‘‘(i) use the local food credit received 
under this paragraph to purchase local 
foods to be served under the school lunch 
program in schools under the jurisdiction 
of the authority; 
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‘‘(ii) keep records of purchases made 
with such assistance; and 
‘‘(iii) provide such records to the Sec-
retary in such manner and such form as 
established by the Secretary. 
‘‘(C) AUTHORIZED
USE
OF
FUNDS.—A 
participating school food authority may use up 
to 10 percent of the local food credit received 
under this paragraph for a school year to pur-
chase local foods to be served under the school 
lunch program during the following school year. 
‘‘(D) MINIMUM COMMODITY PURCHASES.— 
The amount of a grant made under this para-
graph for a school year shall count towards the 
Secretary’s commodity assistance or commodity 
requirements under subsection (e) for such 
school year. 
‘‘(E) DEFINITIONS.—For purposes of this 
paragraph: 
‘‘(i) LOCAL FOODS.—The term ‘local 
foods’ means has the meaning given the 
term ‘locally or regionally produced agri-
cultural 
food 
products’ 
in 
section 
310B(g)(9)(A) of the Consolidated Farm 
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and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 
1932(g)(A)). 
‘‘(ii) LOCAL FOOD CREDIT.—The term 
‘local food credits’ means cash, letters of 
credit, or another form of assistance, de-
termined by the Secretary. 
‘‘(iii) PARTICIPATING
SCHOOL
FOOD 
AUTHORITY.—The 
term 
‘participating 
school food authority’ means a school food 
authority that— 
‘‘(I) participates in the school 
lunch program under this Act; and 
‘‘(II) elects to participate in the 
local food credit program under this 
paragraph. 
‘‘(iv) PARTICIPATING
STATE
AGEN-
CY.—The term ‘participating State agency’ 
means a State agency that— 
‘‘(I) participating in the school 
lunch program under this Act; and 
‘‘(II) elects to participate in the 
local food credit program under this 
paragraph.’’. 
Æ 
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