I 
119TH CONGRESS 
1ST SESSION H. R. 5234 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish 
a program for the procurement of domestically grown unprocessed fruits 
and vegetables to provide healthier school meals, and for other purposes. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
SEPTEMBER 9, 2025 
Ms. JAYAPAL (for herself, Ms. NORTON, and Mr. SMITH of Washington) intro-
duced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Edu-
cation and Workforce 
A BILL 
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 
Act to establish a program for the procurement of do-
mestically grown unprocessed fruits and vegetables to 
provide healthier school meals, 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 ‘‘Local School Foods 
Expansion Act of 2025’’. 
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SEC. 2. PROGRAM FOR PROCUREMENT OF DOMESTICALLY 
GROWN UNPROCESSED FRUITS AND VEGETA-
BLES. 
Section 6(f) of the Richard B. Russell National 
School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1755(f)) is amended— 
(1) in the subsection heading, by striking 
‘‘PILOT PROJECT FOR PROCUREMENT OF’’ and in-
serting ‘‘PROGRAM FOR PROCUREMENT OF DOMES-
TICALLY GROWN’’; 
(2) in paragraph (1)— 
(A) by striking ‘‘conduct a pilot project’’ 
and inserting ‘‘carry out a program (referred to 
in this subsection as the ‘program’)’’; 
(B) by inserting ‘‘domestically grown’’ be-
fore ‘‘unprocessed’’; and 
(C) by striking ‘‘8’’ and inserting ‘‘14’’; 
(3) by striking ‘‘pilot project’’ each place it ap-
pears and inserting ‘‘program’’; 
(4) in paragraph (2), in the matter preceding 
subparagraph 
(A), 
by 
inserting 
‘‘domestically 
grown’’ before ‘‘unprocessed’’; 
(5) in paragraph (3)(B), in the matter pre-
ceding clause (i), by striking ‘‘1 project is located in 
a State’’ and inserting ‘‘2 projects are located in 1 
or more States’’; 
(6) in paragraph (4)— 
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(A) by redesignating subparagraphs (B) 
and (C) as subparagraphs (E) and (F), respec-
tively; and 
(B) by inserting after subparagraph (A) 
the following: 
‘‘(B) the demonstrated commitment of the 
State to support small, local, and socially dis-
advantaged farmers; 
‘‘(C) the demonstrated commitment of the 
State to support Tribal agricultural producers 
and communities utilizing traditional foods; 
‘‘(D) whether the State will serve a high 
proportion of children from socially disadvan-
taged backgrounds in carrying out the pro-
gram;’’; 
(7) in paragraph (5)— 
(A) in the paragraph heading, by striking 
‘‘RECORDKEEPING
AND
REPORTING’’ and in-
serting ‘‘RECORDKEEPING, REPORTING, AND 
EVALUATION’’; 
(B) in subparagraph (B)— 
(i) in clause (i), by striking ‘‘and’’ at 
the end; 
(ii) in clause (ii), by striking the pe-
riod at the end and inserting ‘‘; and’’; and 
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(iii) by adding at the end the fol-
lowing: 
‘‘(iii) the challenges and opportunities 
presented by the program in the State.’’; 
and 
(C) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(C) PROGRAM EVALUATION.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Not later than 2 
years after the date of enactment of this 
subparagraph, the Secretary shall evaluate 
the impact of the program, including with 
respect to— 
‘‘(I) the quantity and cost of 
each type of unprocessed fruit and 
vegetable procured by each State 
under the program; 
‘‘(II) the benefit of the procured 
unprocessed fruits and vegetables to 
school food service in each State, in-
cluding the benefit to meeting school 
meal requirements; 
‘‘(III) the economic impact of the 
program on agricultural producers in 
the State; 
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‘‘(IV) the economic, geographic, 
social, and administrative barriers to 
participation, including the reimburse-
ment process, experienced by agricul-
tural producers and school food au-
thorities; and 
‘‘(V) eligibility requirements for 
agricultural producers, including any 
barriers to becoming approved ven-
dors. 
‘‘(ii) REPORT.—Not later than 4 
years after the date of enactment of this 
subparagraph, the Secretary shall submit 
to the Committee on Agriculture of the 
House of Representatives and the Com-
mittee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and For-
estry of the Senate a report that describes 
the results of the evaluation conducted 
under clause (i) and an analysis of that 
evaluation.’’; and 
(8) by adding at the end the following: 
‘‘(6) FUNDING.— 
‘‘(A) MANDATORY FUNDING.—There is ap-
propriated 
to 
carry 
out 
this 
subsection 
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$25,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 
through 2030. 
‘‘(B) RESERVATION FOR ADMINISTRATIVE 
COSTS; TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(i) IN GENERAL.—Of the funds ap-
propriated under subparagraph (A) for 
each fiscal year, $10,000,000 shall be re-
served for States selected under the pro-
gram under paragraph (1) to carry out the 
activities described in clause (ii)(I). 
‘‘(ii) ADMINISTRATIVE COSTS; TECH-
NICAL ASSISTANCE.— 
‘‘(I) IN
GENERAL.—The funds 
reserved under clause (i) shall be 
used— 
‘‘(aa) for the administrative 
costs of carrying out the pro-
gram, including costs of satis-
fying recordkeeping and report-
ing requirements; 
‘‘(bb) to coordinate among 
or share with agencies and de-
partments involved in carrying 
out the program in the State; 
and 
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‘‘(cc) to provide technical as-
sistance and outreach to— 
‘‘(AA) vendors to be-
come certified to participate 
in the program; and 
‘‘(BB) school food au-
thorities, regional food hubs, 
State and local agencies, In-
dian Tribal organizations, 
agricultural producers, so-
cially disadvantaged farm-
ers, and other entities to 
participate in the program. 
‘‘(II) MINIMUM ALLOTMENT.—Of 
the funds reserved under clause (i), 
each State selected under paragraph 
(3)(A) shall receive not less than 
$500,000 for each fiscal year during 
which the State participates in the 
program. 
‘‘(C) RESERVATION
FOR
TECHNICAL
AS-
SISTANCE TO NONPARTICIPATING STATES.—Of 
the funds appropriated under subparagraph (A) 
for each fiscal year, $1,000,000 shall be re-
served— 
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‘‘(i) only if there are fewer than 14 
States participating in the program that 
fiscal year; and 
‘‘(ii) to provide technical assistance 
with eligibility requirements for States 
seeking to participate in the program.’’. 
Æ 
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