# 119-hr-8928: Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act

119-hr-8928, Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5] (D-CT); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-10-03).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8928
- As of: 2026-10-03
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-hr-8928
- Congress: 119
- Title: Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-05-20
- Sponsor: Rep. Hayes, Jahana [D-CT-5] (D-CT)
- Cosponsors: 11
- Policy area: Agriculture and Food
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-03

## Summary

**This bill would create competitive scratch cooking pilot grants to help schools prepare meals from whole or minimally processed ingredients.** Grants would cover training, equipment, staff time, procurement tools, and a nonprofit-run technical assistance center. - Students and families: Students would get more meals made from whole or minimally processed ingredients and more culinary education and taste tests. - School food authorities: Eligible authorities could receive two-year grants to buy equipment, update kitchens, invest in procurement software, and meet nutrition standards; priority goes to districts serving the most students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. - School workers: Grants can pay for professional development and extra food preparation time, and authorities with collective bargaining or agreements get top priority. - Support and oversight: The Department of Agriculture would contract with nonprofit organizations to run a technical assistance and resource center and grant recipients must complete needs assessments and strategic plans with that center. *This bill would authorize $20 million per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, increasing federal spending.*

## Cosponsors (11)

- Rep. Lofgren, Zoe [D-CA-18] (D-CA), 2026-10-01T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Fitzpatrick, Brian K. [R-PA-1] (R-PA), 2026-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Brownley, Julia [D-CA-26] (D-CA), 2026-05-20T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Grijalva, Adelita S. [D-AZ-7] (D-AZ), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Salinas, Andrea [D-OR-6] (D-OR), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Deluzio, Christopher R. [D-PA-17] (D-PA), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Del. Norton, Eleanor Holmes [D-DC-At Large] (D-DC), 2026-05-21T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. McBride, Sarah [D-DE-At Large] (D-DE), 2026-05-29T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] (D-ME), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Adams, Alma S. [D-NC-12] (D-NC), 2026-06-10T00:00:00.000Z
- Rep. Schrier, Kim [D-WA-8] (D-WA), 2026-07-06T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- More scratch-cooked meals for students: benefit, low. This bill would create a Scratch Cooking Pilot Program to award competitive grants to school food authorities. The Secretary would set up the program within 180 days of enactment. Grants would last 2 school years. Schools could use grants for training, equipment or kitchen changes, extra staff pay…

## Related bills

- 119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026
- 119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act
- 119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025
- 119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act
- 119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025
- 119-hr-1589: American Dream and Promise Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-hr-8928 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/house-bill/8928)

## Related
- [119-hr-9877: Health Equity and Accountability Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-9877)
- [119-hr-7973: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7973)
- [119-hr-20: Richard L. Trumka Protecting the Right to Organize Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-20)
- [119-hr-7977: Energy Bills Relief Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-7977)
- [119-hr-4206: CONNECT for Health Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-4206)
- [119-hr-1589: American Dream and Promise Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-1589)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-hr-8928 (as of 2026-10-03).