Schools must tell parents when they buy foreign food.
H.R. 9980 — American Food for American Schools Act of 2026 · Filed by John Garamendi (D-CA) · 2 cosponsors · Introduced Jul 30, 2026 · Referred to committee
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What it does
This bill makes schools show the public when they get permission to buy foreign food. Schools can only buy foreign food for up to 5% of annual costs per food type. Food sellers must promise in contracts to follow Buy American rules. Schools must tell parents about foreign food purchases. The USDA must keep a public list of all permissions and seller failures.
Who it affects
Schools, parents, and food sellers are affected. Parents will know when schools buy foreign food. Food sellers must add Buy American promises to contracts.
One thing to notice
Foreign food purchases are limited to 5% of costs per food type each year. Schools must report all permissions and seller failures to the public.
From the analysis of the bill text, linked under Primary records below.
Where it stands
2 cosponsors: 1 Democrats, 1 Republicans.
- Jul 30, 2026 — Introduced · Congress.gov: “Introduced in House”
- Jul 30, 2026 — Referred to House Committee on Education and Workforce · Congress.gov: “Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce”
Dates and quoted wording are Congress.gov's action record; the timeline shows status changes, not every procedural step.
Words to know
- Buy American — A rule that says schools should buy food grown or made in the United States.
- USDA — The U.S. Department of Agriculture, the government office that runs school lunch programs.
How this was measured
Analysis — Quorum's AI read the bill text published by Congress.gov (7,640 characters) on Aug 12, 2026. Section numbers in the findings refer to that text, linked below; transparency and hidden-provision scores are compared against the median of 14,707 analysed bills.
Status and sponsors — Congress.gov's bill record — actions, committee referrals and cosponsors — loaded nightly. The timeline shows status changes, not every procedural action.
As of — page rendered 2026-09-23.
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