Federal program gives $200 million yearly for local school food

What it does

This bill sets up a program that gives $200 million each year to states and local governments. The money pays for fresh food grown or made nearby. Schools feed kids in lunch and breakfast programs with this food. Schools can buy the food themselves or give money to schools. Schools buy from farmers and food makers within their state or within 400 miles.

Who it affects

Kids in school lunch programs get fresher food. Farmers, ranchers, and food makers nearby can sell more food. States and school districts run the program and buy the food.

One thing to notice

States can change what counts as local food, with USDA approval. Schools must buy only local foods from covered producers. This might limit menu choices if local producers cannot supply enough variety or volume.

From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.

Where it stands

9 cosponsors: 6 Democrats, 3 Republicans.

• Jun 25, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
• Jun 25, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Agriculture · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture”

Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.

Money around this bill

3 groups reported lobbying about this bill. They filed 3 reports from Jun 2026 to Jun 2026.

Those reports show $870,000 in lobbying spending. Each report lists about 21 bills. So that money was not all for this bill.

More groups named this bill than 61% of bills with any report.

Kristen McDonald Rivet, who sponsored the bill, received $1,575,708 from PACs for the 2026 election.

• National Education Association — $670,000 in 1 report
• High Tech Inventors Alliance — $110,000 in 1 report
• Council for Innovation Promotion (c4ip) — $90,000 in 1 report

Lobbying is legal. These reports show who lobbied about this bill, not what changed.

Words to know

• local food — Food grown or made within a state or within 400 miles of a school
• school lunch programs — Federal programs that give free or low-cost meals to kids at school
• USDA — The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the federal office that oversees farming and food
• lobbying — Trying to influence lawmakers about a bill. Companies and groups pay people to do this.
• PACs — Groups that collect money and give it to candidates for office.
• sponsored — To sponsor a bill is to introduce it in Congress and put your name on it.