# 119-s-4599: Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act of 2026

119-s-4599, Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act of 2026, is a 119th Congress bill sponsored by Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA); status introduced; PRIA reads it as touching household money (as of 2026-06-04).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4599
- As of: 2026-06-04
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-4599
- Congress: 119
- Title: Scratch Cooked Meals for Students Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-05-20
- Sponsor: Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 0
- Policy area: Agriculture and Food
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-06-04

## Summary

**Scratch Cooking Pilot Program** would fund school food authorities to prepare meals from unprocessed or minimally processed ingredients. It focuses on training, kitchen upgrades, procurement, and staff support to increase scratch-made school meals. - Students and families: Low-income students could get more scratch-cooked meals plus taste tests and culinary education tied to the school meal programs. - School food authorities: Eligible districts could win competitive grants lasting 2 school years to buy equipment, modify kitchens, update procurement software, and cover staff time for added preparation. - Workforce and support: Grants give highest priority to districts serving the most students eligible for free or reduced-price lunch, to self-operated programs, and to those with or willing to negotiate collective bargaining. The Secretary would contract nonprofits to run a technical assistance and resource center to help grantees. *Would authorize $20 million per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031, authorizing up to $100 million in new federal spending, with up to 15% for the technical assistance center and up to 5% for other administration.*

## Provisions PRIA read

- Grants for scratch-cooked school meals: benefit, low. If enacted, the Secretary would start a Scratch Cooking Pilot within 180 days to award competitive grants to school food authorities. The pilot would authorize $20 million per year for fiscal years 2027 through 2031. Grants would run for 2 school years and schools would apply to the Secretary. Gran…

## Related bills

- 119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026
- 119-s-2838: Protecting Our Democracy Act
- 119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act
- 119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025
- 119-s-5283: Momnibus Act
- 119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025

## Sources
- [119-s-4599 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/4599)

## Related
- [119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4949)
- [119-s-2838: Protecting Our Democracy Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2838)
- [119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2819)
- [119-s-1541: SHIPS for America Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1541)
- [119-s-5283: Momnibus Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5283)
- [119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-1507)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4599 (as of 2026-06-04).