This bill establishes a pilot program that awards competitive grants to school districts to promote scratch cooking—preparing meals from unprocessed or minimally processed ingredients—in their cafeterias. School food authorities that receive grants can use the funding for staff training, kitchen equipment purchases, employee wages for food preparation, educational programs about healthy cooking, and technology systems to support procurement of fresh ingredients. The bill prioritizes grants for school districts that serve high numbers of low-income students, are self-operated rather than contracted out, and have unionized or are willing to unionize their food service workers. The program runs for two school years per grant, with participating schools required to report on changes in their use of whole ingredients and scratch-cooked menu items. The legislation authorizes $20 million annually from 2027 through 2031, with up to 15 percent reserved for technical assistance from nonprofit organizations that will help schools plan and implement their programs.
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