Bill > HR3562

This bill amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to reauthorize the farm to school program. The key provisions include: 1) expanding the definition of "farm to school program" to include activities like planting and maintaining farms or gardens, procuring from local agricultural producers, and providing agricultural/nutrition/food education; 2) allowing land-grant colleges and universities, and Tribal agencies to participate in the program; 3) providing funding for projects that improve local food procurement and distribution options, including innovative approaches to aggregation, processing, transportation, and distribution; 4) prioritizing projects that incorporate experiential and culturally appropriate food/nutrition/agriculture education, serve a high proportion of children from socially disadvantaged backgrounds, and expand the selection of local commodities; 5) requiring the Secretary to review and report on regulatory and other barriers to developing farm to school programs; and 6) increasing the annual mandatory funding for the program from $5 million to $15 million.