Statements on Introduced Bills and Joint Resolution

Floor Speech

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Ms. COLLINS. Mr. President, I rise to introduce School Food Modernization Act to assist our schools in updating outdated kitchen equipment, allowing them to provide healthier meals to students. I also thank my colleague from Minnesota, Senator Smith, for cosponsoring this bill.

School meals play a vital role in the lives of so many of our children. As one school nutrition director from Maine recently told me, school meals are the ``foundation for student success.'' Nearly 100,000 schools participate in the National School Lunch program, serving 30 million children each day, helping to prevent hunger. Many children consume up to half their daily caloric intake at school, and some get their most nutritious meals of the day at school instead of at home. Because school meals are a significant source of daily nutrition for so many, we must consistently aim to improve the program to best serve students.

The COVID-19 pandemic has further highlighted the importance of school meals for many families. Across the country, schools and nutrition programs were adapted to remote and hybrid learning models during the pandemic. Nutrition programs in Maine and other states have tirelessly continued to support the nutritional needs of students despite school closures, with many schools offering as many as four or five meal delivery options to ensure families can continue to access food seven days a week. I met recently with school nutrition directors from Maine who said lack of equipment, including access to cold storage, has forced them to be even more creative in continuing to serve children across Maine during COVID-19. Many schools are using stoves from the 1960s and others lack adequate storage facilities to store the large amount of food needed to provide multi-day bulk meal bags for children and families who are learning remotely or attending school only part-time.

The fact is schools built decades ago often lack the equipment and infrastructure necessary to do more than reheat and serve one or two meal options each day. Even before the pandemic, nearly 90 percent of schools needed at least one piece of updated school kitchen equipment. It is estimated that Maine schools alone would need $58.8 million for equipment infrastructure upgrades needed to serve healthy meals to all of our students. The Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee, on which I serve, has consistently recognized this need and appropriated $30 million for School Equipment Assistance Grants last year. The School Food Modernization Act would codify and improve this successful grant program to better meet the growing need nationwide.

The School Food Modernization Act seeks to help school food service personnel offer a wide variety of nutritious and appealing meals to all students. First, the bill would provide targeted grant assistance to supply the seed funding needed to upgrade kitchen infrastructure or to purchase high-quality equipment. Second, it would establish a loan guarantee assistance program within USDA to help schools acquire new equipment. Finally, to aid school food services personnel in running successful, healthy programs, the legislation would authorize grants to support training and technical assistance for food service personnel.

Mr. President, I encourage my colleagues to continue supporting school kitchen equipment needs as the Child Nutrition Reauthorization process takes shape. If our children are going to be able to learn and meet their full potential, they need their minds and bodies to be fully nourished. This bill would help us achieve that goal.

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