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S. 5174Senate119th Congress (2025-2027)In Committee

American Food for American Schools Act of 2026

Sponsored by Tim SheehySen. Tim Sheehy (R-MT)
Introduced July 30, 2026

AI-Generated Summary

Updated August 5, 2026 at 5:51 AM UTC

The American Food for American Schools Act of 2026 changes the National School Lunch Act to tighten the “Buy American” rules for school meals. It defines what counts as a domestic product, requires schools to get a waiver before buying foreign food, limits those waivers, and makes information about any waivers public. The law affects all school food authorities that run lunch, breakfast, snack, summer, child‑care, and special‑milk programs.

Key Provisions

  • Defines “domestic commodity or product” as U.S.-grown agricultural items, food processed in the U.S. that contains those items, and fish/seafood caught in U.S. waters or on U.S.-flagged vessels; anything else is “foreign.”
  • School food authorities must request a waiver from the Secretary before purchasing foreign commodities, unless the items are unavailable or of insufficient quality in the U.S.
  • Waivers can cover no more than 5 % of a school’s total annual food costs for each meal component.
  • Schools must notify parents or guardians at least once a year about any foreign products purchased under a waiver.
  • The Secretary must post a publicly available list of all waivers on the USDA website within a year of the first waiver and keep it updated (within 90 days of each new waiver and annually for product details).
  • School‑food contracts must include a “covered provision” requiring suppliers to follow the Buy American rules; suppliers who violate must repay the federal funds used for the non‑compliant purchase.
  • Schools and state agencies must annually report any contract non‑compliance, and the Secretary must publish a list of those violations on the USDA website.
  • The bill expands the Buy American requirement to cover lunch, breakfast, snacks, summer food service, child and adult care food programs, and the special‑milk program.

Legislative Activity

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1 earlier action
SenateIntro Referral Latest Action

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee

July 30, 2026

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SenateIntro Referral

Introduced in Senate

July 30, 2026

SenateIntro Referral

Read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry.

Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry Committee

July 30, 2026

Bill Text

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Introduced in SenateIssued July 30, 2026

II

119th CONGRESS

2d Session

S. 5174

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

July 30, 2026

Mr. Sheehy (for himself and Mr. Schiff) introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred to the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry

A BILL

To amend the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to require a school food authority to make publicly available any waiver of the Buy American requirement, and for other purposes.

1.

Short title

This Act may be cited as the American Food for American Schools Act of 2026.

2.

Requirements for purchase of foreign commodities or products

(a)

Definitions

Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:

(1)

Definitions

In this subsection:

(A)

Domestic commodity or product

The term domestic commodity or product means—

(i)

an agricultural commodity that is produced in the United States;

(ii)

a food product that—

(I)

is processed in the United States; and

(II)

substantially contains agricultural commodities described in clause (i); and

(iii)

fish or seafood harvested—

(I)

within the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States (as established by Presidential Proclamation Number 5030, dated March 10, 1983) (16 U.S.C. 1453 note); or

(II)

by a United States-flagged vessel.

(B)

Foreign commodity or product

The term foreign commodity or product means a commodity or product other than a domestic commodity or product.

.

(b)

Requirement

Section 12(n)(2) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)(2)) is amended—

(1)

in subparagraph (A)—

(A)

by striking subparagraph (B) and inserting subparagraphs (B) and (C); and

(B)

by striking purchase, to the maximum extent practicable, domestic and inserting purchase domestic;

(2)

in subparagraph (B)(ii), by striking for the school lunch program under this Act or the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773). and inserting the following:

for—

(I)

the school lunch program under this Act, including any snacks served under that program;

(II)

the summer food service program for children under section 13;

(III)

the child and adult care food program under section 17;

(IV)

the special milk program under section 3 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1772); and

(V)

the school breakfast program under section 4 of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1773).

; and

(3)

by adding at the end the following:

(C)

Waiver

(i)

In general

Except as provided in clause (ii), a school food authority shall be required to request from the Secretary a waiver of subparagraph (A) before purchasing foreign commodities or products.

(ii)

Exception

A school food authority may purchase foreign commodities or products without a waiver under clause (i) if the foreign commodities or products—

(I)

are not produced or processed domestically in sufficient quantities and of satisfactory quality; or

(II)

are not reasonably available domestically in sufficient quantities and of satisfactory quality.

(iii)

Limitation

Waivers may only be granted under clause (i) for up to 5 percent of the total annual commercial food costs of a school food authority within each meal component (as defined in section 210.2 of title 7, Code of Federal Regulations (or successor regulations)).

(iv)

Notification requirement

A school food authority that purchases foreign commodities or products under this subparagraph shall be required, not less than once each school year, to notify parents or guardians of students of the foreign commodities or products purchased.

(v)

Publicly available list of waivers

(I)

In general

Not later than 1 year after the first waiver is provided under this subparagraph, the Secretary shall establish and maintain on the website of the Department of Agriculture a publicly available list of each waiver provided under this subparagraph, which shall include information—

(aa)
(AA)

on each school food authority that has received a waiver under this subparagraph; and

(BB)

on each food product for which that school food authority received the waiver; and

(bb)

contained in each report submitted under clause (vi)(II).

(II)

Maintenance

The Secretary shall update the list established in subclause (I)—

(aa)

with respect to item (aa) of that subclause, not later than 90 days after a waiver is granted under this subparagraph; and

(bb)

with respect to item (bb) of that subclause, on an annual basis.

(vi)

Reports

(I)

Report to State educational agency

A school food authority shall submit to the State educational agency that serves the school food authority, on an annual basis, a report detailing the categories of foreign commodities or products purchased without a waiver under clause (ii).

(II)

Report to Secretary

The State educational agency shall submit to the Secretary, on an annual basis, a report containing a compilation of the information reported to the State educational agency under subclause (I).

.

(c)

Conforming amendments

Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended—

(1)

in paragraph (3), by striking Paragraph (2)(A) and inserting Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (2); and

(2)

in paragraph (4), by striking Paragraph (2)(A) and inserting Subparagraphs (A) and (C) of paragraph (2).

3.

Buy American contract requirements

Section 12(n) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1760(n)) is amended by adding at the end the following:

(5)

Contracts

(A)

In general

Any contract entered into between a school food authority and a supplier for a commodity or food product for programs under this Act or the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1771 et seq.) after the date of enactment of this paragraph shall include a provision (referred to in this paragraph as the covered provision) that requires the supplier to comply with the requirements of this subsection.

(B)

Reimbursement in the case of noncompliance

(i)

In general

A supplier that enters into a contract described in subparagraph (A) that does not comply with the covered provision in the contract shall be required to pay to the Secretary an amount equal to the amount of Federal funds the supplier used to purchase foreign commodities or products in noncompliance of the covered provision.

(ii)

Limitation

Funds paid to the Secretary under clause (i) shall be available to the Secretary, without further appropriation or fiscal year limitation, to carry out subsection (m).

(C)

Use of noncompliant goods

A school food authority that receives foreign commodities or products that were obtained in noncompliance with the covered provision in the contract of the school food authority may use those foreign commodities or products without requesting a waiver under paragraph (2)(C).

(D)

Reporting

(i)

Report to State educational agency

A school food authority shall submit to the State educational agency that serves the school food authority an annual report describing any noncompliance of a covered provision in any contract described in subparagraph (A).

(ii)

Report to Secretary

A State educational agency shall submit to the Secretary an annual report containing a compilation of each instance of noncompliance reported to the State educational agency under clause (i).

(E)

Publication

The Secretary shall make publicly available on the website of the Department of Agriculture a list of each instance of noncompliance reported to the Secretary under subparagraph (D)(ii).

.

4.

Technical amendments

(a)

Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act

(1)

Section 9(b) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1758(b)) is amended—

(A)

in paragraph (3)(E)(iii), in each of subclauses (III) and (IV), by striking reduced-price each place it appears and inserting reduced price; and

(B)

in paragraph (15)(A)(i)(II), by striking regulations) and inserting regulations)).

(2)

Section 11(e) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1759a(e)) is amended—

(A)

in the second sentence, by striking of this Act each place it appears; and

(B)

in the third sentence, by striking reduced-priced and inserting reduced price.

(3)

Section 13(a)(7)(A)(iv) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1761(a)(7)(A)(iv)) is amended by inserting section after under.

(4)

Section 17(o)(3)(A) of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1766(o)(3)(A)) is amended by striking consulation and inserting consultation.

(5)

Section 22 of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act (42 U.S.C. 1769c) is amended—

(A)

in subsection (a)—

(i)

by striking the subsection designation and heading and all that follows through There in paragraph (1) in the matter preceding subparagraph (A) and inserting the following:

(a)

Unified accountability system

There

; and

(ii)

by redesignating subparagraphs (A) and (B) as paragraphs (1) and (2), respectively, and indenting appropriately; and

(B)

in subsection (b)(1)(A), by striking in subparagraphs (A) and (B) of paragraph (1) and inserting in paragraphs (1) and (2) of subsection (a).

(b)

Child Nutrition Act of 1966

(1)

Section 7(a)(2)(B)(i) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (42 U.S.C. 1776(a)(2)(B)(i)) is amended by striking clause (ii) and inserting clause (ii)).

(2)

Section 17(h)(4) of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966 (7 U.S.C. 1786(h)(4)) is amended—

(A)

in subparagraph (A)(vi), by striking and at the end; and

(B)

in subparagraph (C)(iv), by striking ; and and inserting a period.

5.

Rule of construction

Nothing in this Act or the amendments made by this Act shall affect the requirements under section 4207 of the Agriculture Improvement Act of 2018 (42 U.S.C. 1760 note; Public Law 115–334).