S. 5174

119 S5174 IS: American Food for American Schools Act of 2026
 U.S. Senate
 2026-07-30
 text/xml
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 II  119th CONGRESS  2d Session  S. 5174  IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES   July 30, 2026   Mr. Sheehy  (for himself and  Mr. Schiff ) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the  Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry    A BILL
To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a school food authority to make publicly available any waiver of the Buy American requirement, and for other purposes.
1.
Short title
This Act may be cited as the   American Food for American Schools Act of 2026  .
2.
Requirements for purchase of foreign commodities or products
(a)
Definitions
Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(n) ) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:
(1)
Definitions
In this subsection:
(A)
Domestic commodity or product
The term  domestic commodity or product  means—
(i)
an agricultural commodity that is produced in the United States;
(ii)
a food product that—
(I)
is processed in the United States; and
(II)
substantially contains agricultural commodities described in clause (i); and
(iii)
fish or seafood harvested—
(I)
within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States (as established by Presidential Proclamation Number 5030, dated March 10, 1983) ( 16 U.S.C. 1453  note); or
(II)
by a United States-flagged vessel.
(B)
Foreign commodity or product
The term  foreign commodity or product  means a commodity or product other than a domestic commodity or product.
 .
(b)
Requirement
Section 12(n)(2) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(n)(2) ) is amended—
(1)
in subparagraph (A)—
(A)
by striking  subparagraph (B)  and inserting  subparagraphs (B) and (C) ; and
(B)
by striking  purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, domestic  and inserting  purchase domestic ;
(2)
in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking  for the school lunch program under this Act or the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1773 ).  and inserting the following:
for—
(I)
the school lunch program under this Act, including any snacks served under that program;
(II)
the summer food service program for children under section 13;
(III)
the child and adult care food program under section 17;
(IV)
the special milk program under section 3 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1772 ); and
(V)
the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1773 ).
  ; and
(3)
by adding at the end the following:
(C)
Waiver
(i)
In general
Except as provided in clause (ii), a school food authority shall be required to request from the Secretary a waiver of subparagraph (A) before purchasing foreign commodities or products.
(ii)
Exception
A school food authority may purchase foreign commodities or products without a waiver under clause (i) if the foreign commodities or products—
(I)
are not produced or processed domestically in sufficient quantities and of satisfactory quality; or
(II)
are not reasonably available domestically in sufficient quantities and of satisfactory quality.
(iii)
Limitation
Waivers may only be granted under clause (i) for up to 5 percent of the total annual commercial food costs of a school food authority within each meal component (as defined in section 210.2 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)).
(iv)
Notification requirement
A school food authority that purchases foreign commodities or products under this subparagraph shall be required, not less than once each school year, to notify parents or guardians of students of the foreign commodities or products purchased.
(v)
Publicly available list of waivers
(I)
In general
Not later than 1 year after the first waiver is provided under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall establish and maintain on the website of the Department of Agriculture a publicly available list of each waiver provided under this subparagraph, which shall include information—
(aa)
(AA)
on each school food authority that has received a waiver under this subparagraph; and
(BB)
on each food product for which that school food authority received the waiver; and
(bb)
contained in each report submitted under clause (vi)(II).
(II)
Maintenance
The Secretary shall update the list established in subclause (I)—
(aa)
with respect to item (aa) of that subclause, not later than 90 days after a waiver is granted under this subparagraph; and
(bb)
with respect to item (bb) of that subclause, on an annual basis.
(vi)
Reports
(I)
Report to State educational agency
A school food authority shall submit to the State educational agency that serves the school food authority, on an annual basis, a report detailing the categories of foreign commodities or products purchased without a waiver under clause (ii).
(II)
Report to Secretary
The State educational agency shall submit to the Secretary, on an annual basis, a report containing a compilation of the information reported to the State educational agency under subclause (I).
 .
(c)
Conforming amendments
Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(n) ) is amended—
(1)
in paragraph (3), by striking  Paragraph (2)(A)  and inserting  Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (2) ; and
(2)
in paragraph (4), by striking  Paragraph (2)(A)  and inserting  Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (2) .
3.
Buy American contract requirements
Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1760(n) ) is amended by adding at the end the following:
(5)
Contracts
(A)
In general
Any contract entered into between a school food authority and a supplier for a commodity or food product for programs under this Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq. ) after the date of enactment of this paragraph shall include a provision (referred to in this paragraph as the  covered provision ) that requires the supplier to comply with the requirements of this subsection.
(B)
Reimbursement in the case of noncompliance
(i)
In general
A supplier that enters into a contract described in subparagraph (A) that does not comply with the covered provision in the contract shall be required to pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the amount of Federal funds the supplier used to purchase foreign commodities or products in noncompliance of the covered provision.
(ii)
Limitation
Funds paid to the Secretary under clause (i) shall be available to the Secretary, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to carry out subsection (m).
(C)
Use of noncompliant goods
A school food authority that receives foreign commodities or products that were obtained in noncompliance with the covered provision in the contract of the school food authority may use those foreign commodities or products without requesting a waiver under paragraph (2)(C).
(D)
Reporting
(i)
Report to State educational agency
A school food authority shall submit to the State educational agency that serves the school food authority an annual report describing any noncompliance of a covered provision in any contract described in subparagraph (A).
(ii)
Report to Secretary
A State educational agency shall submit to the Secretary an annual report containing a compilation of each instance of noncompliance reported to the State educational agency under clause (i).
(E)
Publication
The Secretary shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of Agriculture a list of each instance of noncompliance reported to the Secretary under subparagraph (D)(ii).
 .
4.
Technical amendments
(a)
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act
(1)
Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1758(b) ) is amended—
(A)
in paragraph (3)(E)(iii), in each of subclauses (III) and (IV), by striking  reduced-price  each place it appears and inserting  reduced price ; and
(B)
in paragraph (15)(A)(i)(II), by striking  regulations)  and inserting  regulations)) .
(2)
Section 11(e) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1759a(e) ) is amended—
(A)
in the second sentence, by striking  of this Act  each place it appears; and
(B)
in the third sentence, by striking  reduced-priced  and inserting  reduced price .
(3)
Section 13(a)(7)(A)(iv) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1761(a)(7)(A)(iv) ) is amended by inserting  section  after  under .
(4)
Section 17(o)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1766(o)(3)(A) ) is amended by striking  consulation  and inserting  consultation .
(5)
Section 22 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act ( 42 U.S.C. 1769c ) is amended—
(A)
in subsection (a)—
(i)
by striking the subsection designation and heading and all that follows through  There  in paragraph (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and inserting the following:
(a)
Unified accountability system
There
 ; and
(ii)
by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, and indenting appropriately; and
(B)
in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking  in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1)  and inserting  in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a) .
(b)
Child Nutrition Act of 1966
(1)
Section 7(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 42 U.S.C. 1776(a)(2)(B)(i) ) is amended by striking  clause (ii)  and inserting  clause (ii)) .
(2)
Section 17(h)(4) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 ( 7 U.S.C. 1786(h)(4) ) is amended—
(A)
in subparagraph (A)(vi), by striking  and  at the end; and
(B)
in subparagraph (C)(iv), by striking  ; and  and inserting a period.
5.
Rule of construction
Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall affect the requirements under section 4207 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 ( 42 U.S.C. 1760  note;  Public Law 115–334 ).