Food for Thought Act of 2019

I 116TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 4065 To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish a pilot program for serving meals in community colleges, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES JULY 25, 2019 Mr. SCHIFF (for himself, Ms. JUDY CHU of California, Ms. SEWELL of Ala- bama, Ms. PRESSLEY, Ms. NORTON, Mr. CARBAJAL, Mr. CARSON of Indi- ana, Mr. COX of California, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Mr. PAYNE, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. CA´RDENAS, Ms. SA´NCHEZ, Ms. PORTER, and Mrs. TORRES of Cali- fornia) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and Labor A BILL To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish a pilot program for serving meals in community colleges, 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 ‘‘Food for Thought Act 4 of 2019’’. 5 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4065.IH H4065 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 4065 IH SEC. 2. SCHOOL LUNCH IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE PILOT 1 PROGRAM. 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) SCHOOL LUNCH IN COMMUNITY COLLEGE 6 PILOT PROGRAM.— 7 ‘‘(1) AUTHORIZATION OF PROGRAM.— 8 ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 9 through the Administrator of the Food and Nu- 10 trition Service, shall carry out a program to 11 make grants to community colleges to provide 12 free meals, including snacks, to eligible stu- 13 dents, as determined by the Secretary. 14 ‘‘(B) AWARD REQUIREMENTS.—In award- 15 ing grants under this subsection, the Secretary 16 shall make grants to community colleges that 17 reflect varying student body size, full-time stu- 18 dent enrollment, geographic location, including 19 urban, rural, or suburban campuses, minority 20 serving institutions, residential character, in- 21 cluding race and ethnicity, and socioeconomic 22 status. 23 ‘‘(C) MAXIMUM AMOUNT.—A grant under 24 this subsection may not be in an amount great- 25 er than $200,000. 26 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4065.IH H4065 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 4065 IH ‘‘(D) PRIORITY.—In awarding grants 1 under this subsection, the Secretary may give 2 priority to community colleges— 3 ‘‘(i) with prepared food infrastructure 4 or can identify an outside source of sup- 5 port to develop such infrastructure; 6 ‘‘(ii) that serve more than 300 stu- 7 dents who are eligible for Federal Pell 8 Grants; or 9 ‘‘(iii) that are located within proximity 10 of a school that elects to receive special as- 11 sistance payments under section 12 11(a)(1)(F) of the Richard B. Russell Na- 13 tional School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 14 1759a(a)(1)(F)). 15 ‘‘(2) APPLICATION.—To be eligible to receive a 16 grant under this subsection, a community college 17 shall submit an application to the Secretary, at such 18 time, in such manner, and containing such informa- 19 tion as the Secretary may require, including the 20 number of students such community college will 21 serve under the grant. 22 ‘‘(3) USE OF FUNDS.— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4065.IH H4065 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 4065 IH ‘‘(A) IN GENERAL.—A community college 1 that receives a grant under this subsection shall 2 use the grant to— 3 ‘‘(i) provide free meals, including 4 snacks, to eligible students; 5 ‘‘(ii) conduct outreach to students to 6 encourage participation in the free meal 7 program; 8 ‘‘(iii) prepare meals; 9 ‘‘(iv) purchase meals from vendors; 10 and 11 ‘‘(v) provide information to students 12 regarding eligibility for assistance under 13 Federal food assistance programs. 14 ‘‘(B) LIMITATION ON PURCHASE OF 15 EQUIPMENT.—A community college that re- 16 ceives a grant under this subsection may use 17 not more than 20 percent of such grant to pur- 18 chase equipment to carry out the activities de- 19 scribed in clauses (i) through (iv) of subpara- 20 graph (A). 21 ‘‘(4) REQUIREMENTS.—Meals served by a com- 22 munity college pursuant to a grant under this sub- 23 section shall meet the requirements developed under 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4065.IH H4065 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 4065 IH the dietary guidelines required under paragraph 1 (5)(C). 2 ‘‘(5) REPORT.—Each community college that 3 receives a grant under this section shall, not later 4 than 18 months after receiving such a grant, submit 5 a report to the Secretary of Education that in- 6 cludes— 7 ‘‘(A) the prevalence of food insecurity with 8 respect to students enrolled in such community 9 college; and 10 ‘‘(B) an evaluation of the use of grant 11 finds by such community college in addressing 12 such food insecurity. 13 ‘‘(6) DEPARTMENT ACTIVITIES.— 14 ‘‘(A) CONSULTATION.—In carrying out the 15 grant program under this subsection, the Sec- 16 retary shall consult with community colleges, 17 State educational agencies, and State boards of 18 higher education. 19 ‘‘(B) TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE.—Not later 20 than 120 days after the date of the enactment 21 of this subsection, the Secretary, acting through 22 the Administrator of the Food and Nutrition 23 Service, shall provide technical assistance to 24 community colleges to— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4065.IH H4065 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 4065 IH ‘‘(i) as applicable, develop prepared 1 meal infrastructure; 2 ‘‘(ii) carry out the activities described 3 in paragraph (3), including training the 4 employees of the community college to 5 carry out such activities; and 6 ‘‘(iii) develop outreach to students 7 with respect to such activities. 8 ‘‘(C) DIETARY GUIDELINES.—Not later 9 than 120 days after the date of the enactment 10 of this subsection, the Secretary shall develop 11 nutritional requirements for meals served pur- 12 suant to a grant under this subsection that are 13 consistent with the goals of the most recent Di- 14 etary Guidelines for Americans published under 15 section 301 of the National Nutrition Moni- 16 toring and Related Research Act of 1990 (7 17 U.S.C. 5341). 18 ‘‘(D) STUDY.—Not later than 2 years after 19 the date of the enactment of this subsection, 20 the Secretary shall submit to Congress a report 21 that includes— 22 ‘‘(i) an evaluation of the pilot pro- 23 gram under this subsection; and 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H4065.IH H4065 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 4065 IH ‘‘(ii) recommendations with respect to 1 expanding the pilot program under this 2 subsection. 3 ‘‘(7) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.— 4 There is authorized to be appropriated to carry out 5 this subsection $6,000,000 for fiscal year 2020 and 6 each of the succeeding 3 fiscal years. 7 ‘‘(8) COMMUNITY COLLEGE DEFINED.—In this 8 subsection, the term ‘community college’ means a 9 public institution of higher education as defined in 10 section 101(a) of the Higher Education Act of 1965 11 (20 U.S.C. 1001(a)) that— 12 ‘‘(A) does not provide an educational pro- 13 gram for which the institution awards a bach- 14 elor’s degree (or an equivalent degree); and 15 ‘‘(B) predominately awards associate’s de- 16 grees.’’. 17 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 20:22 Aug 16, 2019 Jkt 089200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H4065.IH H4065 pamtmann on DSKBFK8HB2PROD with BILLS