Bill · H.R. 5234· House(119-HR-5234)
Local School Foods Expansion Act of 2025
- Introduced
- 9/9/2025
- Last activity
- 9/9/2025 — Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
- Sponsored by
- Pramila Jayapal
- Cosponsors
- - 6 - 0
- Introduced
- In Committee
What this bill would do
The Local School Foods Expansion Act of 2025 aims to amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act. It establishes a program for procuring domestically grown, unprocessed fruits and vegetables to improve school meals. The bill transitions a previous pilot project into a larger program involving more states. It includes specific criteria for state participation, focusing on support for small, local, and socially disadvantaged farmers, as well as Tribal agricultural producers. The act also mandates a program evaluation and provides specific annual funding for these initiatives.
Yes· 3 of 18
Would children be better off under this?+7
The bill directly improves the nutritional quality of school meals for children.
Would students be better off under this?+7
Provides access to healthier, unprocessed, and domestic fruits and vegetables in school meals.
Would Native Americans be better off under this?+6
The bill specifically provides support for Tribal agricultural producers and communities.
The opposite
No question was scored the opposite.
Who it would affect, and how
Potential Positive Impacts for People
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Healthier School Meals: The program establishes a procurement process for domestically grown unprocessed fruits and vegetables to provide healthier meals for students (Section 2).
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Support for Small and Disadvantaged Farmers: The bill includes provisions to consider a State's commitment to supporting small, local, and socially disadvantaged farmers (Section 2, paragraph 4, subparagraph B).
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Support for Tribal Communities: The legislation considers a State's commitment to supporting Tribal agricultural producers and communities that utilize traditional foods (Section 2, paragraph 4, subparagraph C).
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Economic Impact for Producers: The Secretary is required to evaluate the economic impact of the program on agricultural producers in participating States (Section 2, paragraph 5, subparagraph C, clause (i), subclause (III)).
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Technical Assistance and Outreach: Funds are reserved to provide technical assistance and outreach to vendors, school food authorities, regional food hubs, State and local agencies, Indian Tribal organizations, and agricultural producers (Section 2, paragraph 6, subparagraph B, clause (ii), subclause (II)).
Potential Negative Impacts for People
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Barriers to Participation: The bill notes that the Secretary must evaluate potential economic, geographic, social, and administrative barriers to participation, including the reimbursement process, which could negatively affect agricultural producers and school food authorities (Section 2, paragraph 5, subparagraph C, clause (i), subclause (IV)).
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Vendor Eligibility Hurdles: The program evaluation must investigate potential barriers regarding eligibility requirements for agricultural producers and the process of becoming an approved vendor (Section 2, paragraph 5, subparagraph C, clause (i), subclause (V)).
Groups and Interests Ranking
Every group the model scored this bill for, from -10 to +10. Hover a score for the reason it gave.
- Demographic And Interest Groups
- Good For Children+7Good For Students+7Good For Farmers+6Good For Native Americans+6Good For Low Income Households+4Good For Business Owners+3Good For Rural Residents+3Good For African Americans+2Good For Hispanic Americans+2
- Economy And Finance
- Improves Small Business Support+5Improves Economic Growth+1
- Education And Technology
- Increases Public School Funding+5
- Environment Energy And Infrastructure
- Improves Rural Development+4Reduces Carbon Emissions+1
- Social Issues And Justice
- Improves Racial Equity+3Improves Poverty Reduction+1
- Governance And Ideology
- Improves Government Transparency+1Increases Federal Power+1
- 9/10/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 6/2/2026
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 11/18/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 10/3/2025
- 1 Cosponsor added.
- 9/9/2025
- Referred to the House Committee on Education and Workforce.
- 2 Cosponsors added.
- Introduced in House
One bill Congress.gov lists as related to this one — companions in the other chamber, earlier versions, and bills this one absorbed or was folded into.
André CarsonDemocrat · Indiana
Seth MoultonDemocrat · Massachusetts
Eleanor NortonDemocrat · District of Columbia
Adam SmithDemocrat · Washington
Kim SchrierDemocrat · Washington
Shri ThanedarDemocrat · Michigan