Bill > HR6608

This bill aims to establish a pilot program that provides competitive grants to school food authorities and local educational agencies to promote scratch cooking in school meal programs. The key provisions include: - Defining "scratch cooking" as the preparation of food using unprocessed or minimally processed ingredients. - Awarding grants for a 2-year period, with up to $100,000 per installment. - Allowing grant funds to be used for professional development, equipment purchases, employee compensation, and education related to scratch cooking. - Prioritizing grants to schools serving the highest proportion of students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, self-operated school food authorities, and those with collective bargaining agreements. - Requiring grant recipients to collaborate with a technical assistance center to assess needs and develop a strategic plan. - Mandating reporting requirements on changes in procurement, locally sourced food, scratch-cooked menu items, packaging, and student participation in the school lunch program. - Authorizing $20 million annually for the first 5 fiscal years to carry out the pilot program.