# 119-s-5432: Food for Thought Act of 2026

119-s-5432, Food for Thought 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 2026-10-01).

- Canonical: https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5432
- As of: 2026-10-01
- Plain-text twin of the page above; the HTML and this file carry the same facts.

## Facts
- Bill: 119-s-5432
- Congress: 119
- Title: Food for Thought Act of 2026
- Status: introduced
- Introduced: 2026-09-17
- Sponsor: Sen. Schiff, Adam B. [D-CA] (D-CA)
- Cosponsors: 1
- Policy area: Agriculture and Food
- Touches household money: yes
- Last recorded action: 2026-10-01

## Summary

**The Food for Thought Act of 2026 creates a federally administered grant program to fund free meals for low-income college students.** Grants back campus meal programs and community providers and prioritize community colleges, Tribal colleges, Historically Black colleges, Hispanic-serving and other minority-serving institutions.

## Cosponsors (1)

- Sen. Welch, Peter [D-VT] (D-VT), 2026-09-17T00:00:00.000Z

## Provisions PRIA read

- Free college meals for low-income students: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would create a competitive federal grant program for eligible colleges and community partners to give low-income students free meals and snacks. Grants could pay for 1 to 10 free meals per student each week, and each award could last up to 2 years. Schools must meet a 20% Pell-…
- Meals won’t reduce federal aid need: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would change the Higher Education Act so meals received through this program would not count as 'other financial assistance' when schools calculate a student's federal financial aid need. This would help preserve students' access to need-based aid while participating in the mea…
- Data sharing and program reports: benefit, medium. If enacted, USDA/FNS and the Department of Education would sign an MOU within 120 days to share education data (obeying FERPA) and to help identify eligible schools and low-income students. The MOU would support State outreach and provide annual technical help for meal infrastructure and SNAP outre…
- Funding authorized through 2032: benefit, medium. If enacted, the bill would authorize such sums as are necessary to run the program for each fiscal year from 2027 through 2032. This gives statutory authority to fund the grants but does not itself appropriate money; Congress would still need to pass appropriations.

## Related bills

- 119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026
- 119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act
- 119-s-5283: Momnibus Act
- 119-s-1507: Agriculture Resilience Act of 2025
- 119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026
- 119-s-2823: FAMILY Act

## Sources
- [119-s-5432 on Congress.gov](https://www.congress.gov/bill/119th-congress/senate-bill/5432)

## Related
- [119-s-4949: Water Resources Development Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-4949)
- [119-s-2819: Head Start for America's Children Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2819)
- [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)
- [119-s-3990: PrEP Access and Coverage Act of 2026](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-3990)
- [119-s-2823: FAMILY Act](https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-2823)
- [All bills in Congress](https://policyrisk.com/legislation)

Source: PRIA, https://policyrisk.com/legislation/119-s-5432 (as of 2026-10-01).