To amend the Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish an Office of Kosher and Halal Foods, and for other purposes.

Bill: 118-hr-9980
Sponsor: full_name: Rep. Meng, Grace [D-NY-6]
Introduced: 2024-10-11
Policy area: Agriculture and Food
Latest action: action_date: 2024-11-04
text: Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition, Foreign Agriculture, and Horticulture.

Summaries:

tv_txt: I 118th CONGRESS 2d Session H. R. 9980 IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES October 11, 2024 Ms. Meng introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Agriculture , and in addition to the Committee on Education and the Workforce , 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 Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 to establish an Office of Kosher and Halal Foods, and for other purposes.

1. Findings Congress finds the following: (1) There are approximately 7.5 million Jewish Americans and 3.45 million Muslim Americans. (2) Thirty-five percent of Jewish Americans and 83 percent of Muslim Americans follow religiously required dietary restrictions. (3) Meaningful percentages of Jewish and Muslim American communities are food insecure and could benefit from Department of Agriculture emergency food programs such as the Emergency Food Assistance Program (commonly known and referred to in this section as TEFAP ). (4) Studies have shown that people in the United States that follow religiously required diets will forgo food even if hungry rather than eat food that is forbidden to them. (5) Kosher and halal food options in these programs are therefore essential for individuals adhering to religiously required dietary restrictions. (6) Estimates suggest that 50 percent of the food on grocery store shelves in the United States has at least one kosher certification. (7) Despite the fact that kosher and halal products are readily available in the commercial marketplace, while the Department of Agriculture has expanded kosher and halal options available through TEFAP, Department of Agriculture feeding programs currently do not provide sufficient options to fully meet the needs of people in the United States with religiously required dietary restrictions. For example, TEFAP currently only requires 8 certified kosher products and 1 halal certified product. (8) Congress has in the past, recognized the need to increase access to emergency kosher and halal food in the Nation's food programs. (9) Through TEFAP, Congress previously sought to expand access to kosher and halal food through Department of Agriculture programs by mandating that the Secretary shall finalize and implement a plan to increase the purchase of Kosher and Halal food . (10) Nevertheless, the lack of current kosher and halal food options prevent those with religiously required diets from fully participating in the Nation’s food programs and are fundamentally unfair and inequitable. (11) As part of the United States National Strategy to Counter Antisemitism, the Department of Agriculture is committed to work to ensure equal access to all USDA feeding programs for USDA customers with religious dietary needs. This will include increasing commercially available kosher and halal foods that are priorities for Jewish and Muslim program participants; expanding the number of kosher or halal certified foods in USDA’s food procurement; training schools on how to meet students’ religious dietary needs for the National School Lunch and School Breakfast programs; and expanding outreach and technical assistance for kosher and halal meat processors. . 2. Office of kosher and halal foods The Federal Crop Insurance Reform and Department of Agriculture Reorganization Act of 1994 ( 7 U.S.C. 6901 note et seq.) is amended by adding at the end the following: 310. Office of kosher and halal foods (a) Establishment Not later than 6 months after the date of the enactment of this section, the Secretary shall establish in the Department an Office of Kosher and Halal Foods (referred to in this section as the Office ). (b) Director The Secretary shall appoint a Director of the Office who shall— (1) be an individual with expertise in feeding programs carried out by the Secretary, national supply logistics, and religiously required diets; and (2) be responsible for carrying out the mission and responsibilities of the Office as specified in this section. (c) Mission The mission of the Office shall be to provide guidance and expertise to the Secretary necessary to ensure that people in the United States with religiously required diets have full, fair, and equal access to all food programs administered by the Secretary. (d) Responsibilities The Office shall be responsible for engaging in activities to carry out the mission described in subsection (c), including— (1) advising on the cost-effective procurement of kosher and halal food for distribution through programs administered by the Secretary; (2) assisting local and regional food banks and pantries with the cost-effective procurement of kosher and halal food; (3) advising the Secretary on the establishment of a national kosher and halal emergency food bank and distribution network; (4) working with industry stakeholders to support the Department in securing kosher and halal food across food groups, to allow pantries to provide balanced pantry bags aligned with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans established under section 301 of the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990 ( 7 U.S.C. 5341 ); (5) advising the Secretary on the needs of students with religiously required dietary restrictions in the covered nutrition programs; (6) advocating for, and supporting funding initiatives for, increased access to kosher and halal food options in feeding programs administered by the Secretary; (7) providing educational resources to producers, food banks, schools, food pantries, and other emergency food providers who contract with the Secretary to distribute food on kosher and halal requirements to assist such producers, food banks, schools, food pantries, and other emergency food providers in ensuring equal access to their programs for individuals who present with religious required diets; (8) conducting research and collecting data, in partnership with the Economic Research Service, on kosher and halal food in the United States and food insecurity in the Jewish and Muslim American communities; and (9) administering any pilot, grant, or other programs administered by the Department that are designed to increase access to kosher and halal food under the emergency food assistance program established under the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 ( 7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq. ). (e) Report to congress Not later than 1 year after the date of the enactment of this section, and annually thereafter, the Office shall submit to Congress a report on the activities to be carried out by the Office and any relevant data relating to such activities and goals for the Office for the following year. (f) Covered nutrition program defined In this section, the term covered nutrition program means— (1) the school lunch program established under the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1751 et seq. ); (2) the school breakfast program established under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1773 ); and (3) the Patrick Leahy Farm to School Program established under section 18(g) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1769(g) ). (g) Funding (1) Mandatory funding Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section $1,600,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029, to remain available until expended. (2) Discretionary funding There are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $1,600,000 for each of fiscal years 2025 through 2029, to remain available until expended. .