United States 119th Congress Status: In Committee Bipartisan · 2 D · 1 R cosponsors

HR 6697 — EAT Healthy Foods from Local Farmers Act

Last action — Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture.

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  1. ✓
    Introduced
  2. 2
    In Committee
  3. 3
    Passed House
  4. 4
    Passed Senate
  5. 5
    To Executive
  6. 6
    Enacted

This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced December 12, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.

Next likely step: a committee vote, then a floor vote in the House.

Prognosis

Advancing 36% · moderate confidence

Where this bill stands today.

Odds of enactment

Low

How often bills like it became law.

  • In Committee

    Current position in the legislative process.

  • 3 sponsors

    1 primary, 2 co-sponsors signed on.

  • Bipartisan support

    Sponsored across 2 parties (2 D · 1 R) — cross-party backing.

Prognosis reads this bill's own signals — stage, sponsorship breadth, committee status, recorded votes and cross-state momentum. Odds come from a model trained on which bills have become law.

Summary

Expanding Access To Healthy Foods from Local Farmers Act or the EAT Healthy Foods from Local Farmers ActThis bill amends The Emergency Food Assistance Program to authorize the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to provide funds for states to purchase priority agricultural products (e.g., fruits, vegetables, meats, and grains) from eligible small businesses and distribute them to needy persons through emergency feeding organizations.Eligible small businesses under this FNS program include growers, packers, processors, distributors, food-hubs, or cooperatives that are (1) underserved (e.g., women-owned or veteran owned); or (2) composed of or source agricultural products from beginning farmers or small or mid-sized farms that are structured as family farms.The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must also create a cross-agency working group to review and reconsider how USDA's procurement of priority agricultural products can be directed to support a wider range of agricultural producers and product distributors in a manner that meets goals such as nutrition security, resilient local and regional food systems, and rural job creation.

Bill Text

Sections of law this bill changes

2 sections in 1 law

From the bill's own amending language, matched to the official United States Code (current through Public Law 119-121).

Emergency food assistance · 7 U.S.C. ch. 102 2 sections
  • § 7503 State plan Amends

    7 U.S.C. § 7503 — at 7503(b)(5)

    The law today

    (a) Plans (1) In general To receive commodities under this chapter, a State shall submit to the Secretary an operation and administration plan for the provision of benefits under this chapter. (2) Updates A State shall submit to the Secretary for approval any amendment to a plan submitted under paragraph (1) in any case in which the State proposes to make a change to the operation or administration of a program described in the plan. (b) Requirements Each plan shall— (1) designate the State agency responsible for distributing the commodities received under this chapter; (2) set forth a plan of operation and administration to expeditiously distribute commodities under this chapter; (3) set forth the standards of eligibility for recipient agencies; (4) set forth the standards of eligibility for individual or household recipients of commodities, which shall require— (A) individuals or households to be comprised of needy persons; and (B) individual or household members to be residing in the geographic location served by the distributing agency at the time of applying for assistance; (5) at the option of the State agency, describe a plan of operation for 1 or more projects in partnership with 1 or more emergency feeding organizations located in the State to harvest, process, package, or transport donated commodities received under section 7507(d) of this title; and (6) describe a plan, which may include the use of a State advisory board established under subsection (c), that provides emergency feeding organizations or eligible recipient agencies within the State an opportunity to provide input on the commodity preferences and needs of the emergency feeding organization or eligible recipient agency. (c) State advisory board The Secretary shall encourage each State receiving commodities under this chapter to establish a State advisory board consisting of representatives of all entities in the State, both public and private, interested in the distribution of commodities received under this chapter.

    4 other bills also change this section · Follow it → Official text at uscode.house.gov ↗

  • § 7507 State and local supplementation of commodities Amends

    7 U.S.C. § 7507

    The law today

    (a) Authorization The Secretary shall establish procedures under which State and local agencies, charitable institutions, or any other persons may supplement the commodities distributed under the program authorized by this chapter for use by emergency feeding organizations with nutritious and wholesome commodities that such entities or persons donate to State agencies and emergency feeding organizations for distribution, in all or part of the State, in addition to the commodities otherwise made available under this chapter. (b) Use of funds and facilities States and emergency feeding organizations may use the funds appropriated under this chapter and equipment, structures, vehicles, and all other facilities involved in the storage, handling, or distribution of commodities made available under this chapter, and the personnel, both paid or volunteer, involved in such storage, handling, or distribution, to store, handle or distribute commodities donated for the use of emergency feeding organizations under subsection (a). (c) Volunteer workers State and emergency feeding organizations shall continue, to the maximum extent practicable, to use volunteer workers and commodities and other foodstuffs donated by charitable and other organizations in the operation of the program authorized by this section. (d) Projects to harvest, process, package, or transport donated commodities (1) Definition of project In this subsection, the term “project” means the harvesting, processing, packaging, or transportation of unharvested, unprocessed, or unpackaged commodities donated by agricultural producers, processors, or distributors for use by emergency feeding organizations under subsection (a). (2) Federal funding for projects (A) In general Subject to subparagraphs (B) and (C) and paragraph (3), using funds made available under paragraph (5), the Secretary may provide funding to States to pay for the costs of carrying out a project. (B) Federal share The Federal share of the cost of a project under subparagraph (A) shall not exceed 50 percent of the total cost of the project. (C) Allocation (i) In general Each fiscal year, the Secretary shall allocate the funds made available under subparagraph (A), based on a formula determined by the Secretary, to States that have submitted a State plan describing a plan of operation for a project under section 7503(b)(5) of this title. (ii) Reallocation If the Secretary determines that a State will not expend all of the funds allocated to the State for a fiscal year under clause (i), the Secretary shall reallocate the unexpended funds to other States that have submitted under section 7503(b)(5) of this title a State plan describing a plan of operation for a project during that fiscal year or the subsequent fiscal year, as the Secretary determines appropriate. (iii) Reports Each State to which funds are allocated for a fiscal year under this subparagraph shall, on a regular basis, submit to the Secretary financial reports describing the use of the funds. (3) Project purposes A State may only use Federal funds received under paragraph (2) for a project the purposes of which are— (A) to reduce food waste at the agricultural production, processing, or distribution level through the donation of food; (B) to provide food to individuals in need; and (C) to build relationships between agricultural producers, processors, and distributors and emergency feeding organizations through the donation of food. (4) Cooperative agreements The Secretary may encourage a State agency that carries out a project using Federal funds received under paragraph (2) to enter into cooperative agreements with State agencies of other States under section 7505(d) of this title to maximize the use of commodities donated under the project. (5) Funding Out of funds not otherwise appropriated, the Secretary of the Treasury shall transfer to the Secretary to carry out this subsection $4,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2019 through 2031, to rem...

    9 other bills also change this section · Follow it → Official text at uscode.house.gov ↗

How this bill changes current law

11 changes Share ↗

Compared against current U.S. Code AI-generated reading aid — verify against the official bill.

The bill expands the Emergency Food Assistance Act to include provisions for States to purchase agricultural products for distribution to emergency feeding organizations.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(a)

    or that State agencies purchase using funds made available under subsection (d),

    This allows State agencies to purchase agricultural products in addition to receiving donations for distribution.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(b)

    donated → or purchased

    This modification permits the use of funding and facilities for both donated and purchased commodities.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(c)

    State and emergency feeding organizations shall continue, to the maximum extent practicable, to use volunteer workers and commodities and other foodstuffs donated by charitable and other organizations in the operation of the program authorized by this section.

    This deletes the requirement for States and organizations to use volunteer workers and donated food to the maximum extent practicable.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(d)

    (d) → (c)

    This changes the subsection designation from (d) to (c) in the restructuring of the sections.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(2)(A)(i)

    subparagraphs (B) and (C) → subparagraph (B)

    This alters the federal share of costs for projects by limiting references in the section.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(2)(B)

    Projects for States To Purchase Certain Commodities From Eligible Entities.--

    This adds a new section allowing States to initiate projects for purchasing priority agricultural products from eligible entities.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7503(b)(5)

    donated commodities received under section 203D(d) → commodities donated under subsection (c), or purchased under subsection (d), of section 203D

    This clarifies the types of commodities that can be described in the State agency plan of operation.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(1)(A)

    Project.--The term `project' means the purchase of priority agricultural products from eligible entities, and the distribution of those products to needy persons through emergency feeding organizations under subsection (a).

    This defines the scope of 'project' to include purchasing agricultural products, enhancing support for local agriculture.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(1)(B)

    Priority agricultural product.--The term `priority agricultural product' means a fruit, vegetable, dairy, meat, seafood, grain, poultry, or other commodity food product, available for sale by eligible entities and that States determine to be appropriate for distribution through emergency feeding organizations and culturally or religiously relevant to the local communities that will distribute the products.

    This introduces a definition for 'priority agricultural product,' emphasizing culturally relevant foods.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(1)(C)

    Eligible entity.--The term `eligible entity' means any of the following small businesses that is a grower, packer, processor, distributor, food-hub, or a cooperative, and that--

    This defines 'eligible entity,' expanding the definition to include various types of small agribusinesses.

  • 7 U.S.C. 7507(d)(2)(A)

    Subject to subparagraph (C) and paragraph (4), using funds made available under paragraph (5), the Secretary may provide funds to States to pay for the costs of carrying out a project.

    This establishes funding provisions for states to implement projects related to the purchase of agricultural products.

Action History

  1. Referred to the Subcommittee on Nutrition and Foreign Agriculture.

  2. Introduced in House

  3. Introduced in House

  4. Referred to the House Committee on Agriculture.

Sponsors

Sponsorship breakdown

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1 sponsors · 2 co-sponsors · 544 not signed on

Sponsors (1)

Co-sponsors (2)

Not signed on (544)

544 members have not signed on to this bill.

Show all 544 →

"Not signed on" means a member has not sponsored or co-sponsored this bill — it does not imply opposition. Members flagged Voted No have a recorded No vote on this bill.

Whip count is in markup. Polling the chamber and every recorded vote this session. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Calling the roll · Tallying · Engrossing

Subjects

healthcare technology agriculture
Cross-referencing the record. Reading this bill against every other bill in the corpus by meaning, not keywords. Only the first open is slow. It’s instant for you after this. Matching · Ranking · Engrossing

Frequently asked questions

What does HR 6697 do?
Expanding Access To Healthy Foods from Local Farmers Act or the EAT Healthy Foods from Local Farmers ActThis bill amends The Emergency Food Assistance Program to authorize the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) to provide funds for states to purchase priority agricultural products (e.g., fruits, vegetables, meats, and grains) from eligible small businesses and distribute them to needy persons through emergency feeding organizations.Eligible small businesses under this FNS program include growers, packers, processors, distributors, food-hubs, or cooperatives that are (1) underserved (e.g., women-owned or veteran owned); or (2) composed of or source agricultural products from beginning farmers or small or mid-sized farms that are structured as family farms.The Department of Agriculture (USDA) must also create a cross-agency working group to review and reconsider how USDA's procurement of priority agricultural products can be directed to support a wider range of agricultural producers and product distributors in a manner that meets goals such as nutrition security, resilient local and regional food systems, and rural job creation.
Who sponsors HR 6697?
HR 6697 is sponsored by Schrier, Kim (Democratic), Van Drew, Jefferson (Republican), and Bonamici, Suzanne (Democratic).
What is the current status of HR 6697?
This bill is in committee in the House. Introduced December 12, 2025. It must pass committee before a floor vote.
Where can I track HR 6697?
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