American Food for American Schools Act of 2026

This bill changes the Buy American rule for federal school meal programs so that schools must buy food grown or processed in the United States, removing the current "to the maximum extent practicable" wording. The rule would cover school lunch and snacks, school breakfast, summer meals, child and adult care food, and the special milk program. Schools would need a federal waiver before buying foreign food, with exceptions when U.S. food is not available in enough quantity or quality, and waivers would be capped at 5 percent of yearly food costs in each meal component. Schools buying foreign food would have to tell parents each year, the Department of Agriculture would post a public list of waivers, and supplier contracts would require Buy American compliance, with suppliers repaying federal funds spent on noncompliant foreign food.

Full text and official record on Congress.gov

Sponsors

• Tim Sheehy Republican sponsor
• 1 cosponsors