Healthy Future Students and Earth Pilot Program Act of 2021

I 117TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4108 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish a pilot grant program to make grants to school food authorities to provide 100 percent plant-based food and milk options, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JUNE 23, 2021 Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ (for herself, Mr. BOWMAN, Ms. NORTON, Mr. TAKANO, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BARRAGA´N, and Ms. PRESSLEY) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Com- mittee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish a pilot grant program to make grants to school food authorities to provide 100 percent plant- based food and milk options, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Healthy Future Stu- 4 dents and Earth Pilot Program Act of 2021’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4108 IH SEC. 2. PILOT GRANT PROGRAM FOR 100 PERCENT PLANT- 1 BASED FOOD AND MILK OPTIONS. 2 Section 18 of the Richard B. Russell National School 3 Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769) is amended by inserting be- 4 fore subsection (b) the following: 5 ‘‘(a) PILOT GRANT PROGRAM FOR 100 PERCENT 6 PLANT-BASED FOOD AND MILK OPTIONS.— 7 ‘‘(1) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.—Not later than 8 90 days after the date of the enactment of this sub- 9 section, the Secretary shall establish and carry out 10 a pilot grant program to make grants to eligible 11 school food authorities to carry out the activities de- 12 scribed in paragraph (4). 13 ‘‘(2) GRANT TERMS.— 14 ‘‘(A) NUMBER OF GRANTS AWARDED.— 15 The Secretary shall award at least 50 grants 16 under the pilot grant program established 17 under paragraph (1). 18 ‘‘(B) TERM.—The term of a grant award- 19 ed under this subsection shall be 3 years. 20 ‘‘(C) PURPOSE AND SCOPE.—The Sec- 21 retary shall, to the maximum extent practicable, 22 award grants under this subsection in diverse 23 amounts in order to best match— 24 ‘‘(i) the need of the school food au- 25 thority awarded the grant; and 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4108 IH ‘‘(ii) the award to the purpose and 1 scope of the project to be funded. 2 ‘‘(3) APPLICATION.— 3 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—To be eligible to re- 4 ceive a grant under this subsection, an eligible 5 school food authority shall submit to the Sec- 6 retary an application at such time, in such 7 manner, and containing such information as the 8 Secretary may require. 9 ‘‘(B) PRIORITY.—To the maximum extent 10 practicable, the Secretary shall give priority to 11 awarding grants to an eligible school food au- 12 thority that— 13 ‘‘(i) will use the grant funds to— 14 ‘‘(I) serve a high proportion of 15 children who are eligible for free or 16 reduced price lunches; 17 ‘‘(II) demonstrate collaboration 18 with nongovernmental and commu- 19 nity-based organizations, agricultural 20 producer groups, and other commu- 21 nity partners; 22 ‘‘(III) serve a high proportion of 23 children from socially disadvantaged 24 backgrounds; and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4108 IH ‘‘(IV) incorporate experiential 1 and traditional and culturally appro- 2 priate food, nutrition, or agricultural 3 education activities in curriculum 4 planning; 5 ‘‘(ii) in the application of such eligible 6 school food authority under subparagraph 7 (A)— 8 ‘‘(I) includes an adequate and 9 participatory evaluation plan; and 10 ‘‘(II) includes a plan for pro- 11 viding culturally appropriate meals; 12 and 13 ‘‘(iii) meets any other criteria that the 14 Secretary determines appropriate. 15 ‘‘(4) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant under this sub- 16 section may be used for any of the following: 17 ‘‘(A) To contract with third parties for 18 professional development training for food serv- 19 ice personnel on serving (including preparing, 20 procuring, marketing, and creating menus) 100 21 percent plant-based food options or 100 percent 22 plant-based milk options, except that any em- 23 ployee who participates in such a training shall 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4108 IH be compensated for such training at the regular 1 rate of pay of such employee. 2 ‘‘(B) To provide technical assistance and 3 pupil engagement and education on 100 percent 4 plant-based food and 100 percent plant-based 5 milk options, including providing taste tests, 6 recipe development, and culinary education. 7 ‘‘(C) To provide additional compensation 8 for additional work relating to serving meals 9 that include a 100 percent plant-based food op- 10 tion or a 100 percent plant-based milk option. 11 ‘‘(D) To conduct outreach to and cover 12 costs of procurement of foods from agricultural 13 producers of meat alternates including— 14 ‘‘(i) beginning farmers (as defined in 15 section 2501(a) of the Food, Agriculture, 16 Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 17 U.S.C. 2279(a))); 18 ‘‘(ii) veteran farmers (as defined in 19 section 2501(a) of the Food, Agriculture, 20 Conservation, and Trade Act of 1990 (7 21 U.S.C. 2279(a))); 22 ‘‘(iii) socially disadvantaged farmers 23 (as defined in section 355(e) of the Con- 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4108 IH solidated Farm and Rural Development 1 Act (7 U.S.C. 2003(e))); and 2 ‘‘(iv) local farmers. 3 ‘‘(5) REPORTS.— 4 ‘‘(A) RECORDKEEPING REQUIRED.—Each 5 eligible school food authority awarded a grant 6 under this subsection shall keep such records of 7 meat alternative and fluid milk alternative 8 items served pursuant to this subsection as the 9 Secretary determines appropriate. 10 ‘‘(B) REPORT REQUIRED BY SCHOOL FOOD 11 AUTHORITIES.—Not later than 1 year after re- 12 ceiving a grant under this subsection, and an- 13 nually for the duration of the pilot grant pro- 14 gram thereafter, a school food authority shall 15 submit to the Secretary a report on the success 16 of the pilot grant program, including informa- 17 tion on— 18 ‘‘(i) the number of 100 percent plant- 19 based food options and 100 percent plant- 20 based milk options that the school food au- 21 thority served during the grant period 22 compared with the preceding school year; 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4108 IH ‘‘(ii) the number of schools served by 1 the school food authority pursuant to the 2 grant; 3 ‘‘(iii) the number of students served 4 by the school food authority pursuant to 5 the grant; and 6 ‘‘(iv) how the school food authority 7 used the grant funds. 8 ‘‘(C) REPORT BY SECRETARY.—Not later 9 than 60 days after the date described in para- 10 graph (7), the Secretary shall submit to Con- 11 gress a report that includes a summary of the 12 reports received under subparagraph (B) and 13 such information with respect to the pilot pro- 14 gram the Secretary determines relevant. 15 ‘‘(6) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—The Secretary 16 shall provide technical assistance and information to 17 assist school food authorities— 18 ‘‘(A) to facilitate the coordination and 19 sharing of information and resources in the De- 20 partment that may be applicable to the activi- 21 ties described in paragraph (4); 22 ‘‘(B) to collect and share information on 23 best practices; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 4108 IH ‘‘(C) to disseminate research and data on 1 existing farm to school programs and the poten- 2 tial for programs in underserved areas. 3 ‘‘(7) SUNSET.—The authority to carry out this 4 subsection shall terminate on the date that is 5 5 years after the date of the enactment of this sub- 6 section. 7 ‘‘(8) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 8 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 9 this subsection $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2022, to 10 remain available until the date described in para- 11 graph (7). 12 ‘‘(9) DEFINITIONS.—In this subsection: 13 ‘‘(A) 100 PERCENT PLANT-BASED FOOD 14 OPTION.—The term ‘100 percent plant-based 15 food option’ means a breakfast or lunch meal 16 option or component that— 17 ‘‘(i) includes a meat alternate as de- 18 scribed in— 19 ‘‘(I) section 210.10 of title 7, 20 Code of Federal Regulations (or suc- 21 cessor regulations); or 22 ‘‘(II) appendix A to part 210 of 23 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or 24 successor regulations); and 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 4108 IH ‘‘(ii) does not contain any animal 1 products or byproducts, such as meat, 2 poultry, fish, dairy, or eggs. 3 ‘‘(B) 100 PERCENT PLANT-BASED MILK 4 OPTION.—The term ‘100 percent plant-based 5 milk option’ means a beverage, including a 100 6 percent plant-based dairy alternative, that— 7 ‘‘(i) does not contain any animal prod- 8 ucts or byproducts; and 9 ‘‘(ii) meets the standards for a substi- 10 tution for fluid milk in accordance with 11 section 9(a)(2)(B)(i). 12 ‘‘(C) ELIGIBLE SCHOOL FOOD AUTHOR- 13 ITY.—The term ‘eligible school food authority’ 14 means a school food authority for which 50 per- 15 cent or more of the students served by such 16 school food authority are eligible for free or re- 17 duced price lunch under this Act or free or re- 18 duced price breakfast under section 4 of the 19 Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). 20 ‘‘(D) SOCIALLY DISADVANTAGED.—The 21 term ‘socially disadvantaged’ has the meaning 22 given the term in section 124.103 of title 13, 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 4108 IH Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regu- 1 lations).’’. 2 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 05:05 Jul 22, 2021 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4108.IH H4108 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with BILLS