Fresh Fruits and Vegetables Nutrition Act of 2023

II 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. 1639 To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to increase funding for the purchase of specialty crops, and for other purposes. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES MAY 17, 2023 Mr. RUBIO introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry A BILL To amend the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act of 2002 to increase funding for the purchase of specialty crops, 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 ‘‘Fresh Fruits and 4 Vegetables Nutrition Act of 2023’’. 5 SEC. 2. FRESH FRUITS AND VEGETABLES. 6 (a) PURCHASE OF SPECIALTY CROPS.—Section 7 10603 of the Farm Security and Rural Investment Act 8 of 2002 (7 U.S.C. 612c–4) is amended— 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 May 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1639.IS S1639 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 2 •S 1639 IS (1) in subsection (a), by striking 1 ‘‘$200,000,000’’ and inserting ‘‘$300,000,000’’; and 2 (2) in subsection (b), by striking ‘‘$50,000,000 3 for each of fiscal years 2008 through 2023’’ and in- 4 serting ‘‘$150,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2024 5 through 2028’’. 6 (b) SECTION 32 FUNDS.—Section 4404(a) of the 7 Food, Conservation, and Energy Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 8 612c–5(a)) is amended— 9 (1) in paragraph (5), by inserting ‘‘through fis- 10 cal year 2023’’ after ‘‘thereafter’’; and 11 (2) by adding at the end the following: 12 ‘‘(6) $300,000,000 for fiscal year 2024 and 13 each fiscal year thereafter.’’. 14 (c) DOMESTIC FOOD ASSISTANCE PROGRAM.—Sec- 15 tion 14222(b)(2) of the Food, Conservation, and Energy 16 Act of 2008 (7 U.S.C. 612c–6(b)(2)) is amended by strik- 17 ing subparagraph (A) and inserting the following: 18 ‘‘(A)(i) in the case of fiscal year 2024, 19 $2,500,000,000; 20 ‘‘(ii) in the case of fiscal year 2025, 21 $2,525,000,000; 22 ‘‘(iii) in the case of fiscal year 2026, 23 $2,550,000,000; 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 May 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1639.IS S1639 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 3 •S 1639 IS ‘‘(iv) in the case of fiscal year 2027, 1 $2,575,000,000; and 2 ‘‘(v) for fiscal year 2028 and each fiscal 3 year thereafter, the amount made available for 4 the preceding fiscal year, as adjusted to reflect 5 changes for the 12-month period ending on the 6 preceding November 30 in the Consumer Price 7 Index for All Urban Consumers published by 8 the Bureau of Labor Statistics of the Depart- 9 ment of Labor; and’’. 10 (d) FRESH FRUIT AND VEGETABLE PROGRAM.—Sec- 11 tion 19 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch 12 Act (42 U.S.C. 1769a) is amended— 13 (1) in subsection (a)— 14 (A) by striking ‘‘2008’’ and inserting 15 ‘‘2024’’; and 16 (B) by inserting ‘‘and secondary schools’’ 17 after ‘‘schools’’; 18 (2) in subsection (d)(1)(C), by striking ‘‘(as de- 19 fined’’ and inserting ‘‘or secondary school (as those 20 terms are defined’’; 21 (3) in subsection (f)(2), by striking ‘‘$75’’ and 22 inserting ‘‘$100’’; 23 (4) in subsection (i)— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 May 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1639.IS S1639 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 4 •S 1639 IS (A) in the matter preceding subparagraph 1 (A), by inserting ‘‘(7 U.S.C. 612c–6)’’ after 2 ‘‘2008’’; and 3 (B) by striking subparagraphs (A) through 4 (E) and inserting the following: 5 ‘‘(A) On July 1, 2024, $800,000,000. 6 ‘‘(B) On July 1, 2025, $825,000,000. 7 ‘‘(C) On July 1, 2026, $850,000,000. 8 ‘‘(D) On July 1, 2027, $875,000,000. 9 ‘‘(E) On July 1, 2028, and each July 1 10 thereafter, the amount made available for the 11 preceding fiscal year, as adjusted to reflect 12 changes for the 12-month period ending the 13 preceding April 30 in the Consumer Price Index 14 for All Urban Consumers published by the Bu- 15 reau of Labor Statistics of the Department of 16 Labor, for items other than food.’’; and 17 (5) by adding at the end the following: 18 ‘‘(j) HIGH-POVERTY COMMUNITIES.—Notwith- 19 standing any other provision of this section, the program 20 shall be directly available to any local educational agency 21 identified by the Secretary as being eligible for meal serv- 22 ice under section 11(a)(1)(F). 23 ‘‘(k) BUY AMERICA.— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:04 Jun 01, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S1639.IS S1639 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS 5 •S 1639 IS ‘‘(1) IN GENERAL.—Except as provided in para- 1 graph (2), fruits and vegetables purchased under the 2 program shall be grown in the United States. 3 ‘‘(2) WAIVER.—The requirement in paragraph 4 (1) may be waived if a product grown in the United 5 States cannot be purchased for less than 25 percent 6 more than a foreign-sourced product.’’. 7 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:48 May 31, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\S1639.IS S1639 kjohnson on DSK79L0C42PROD with BILLS