Food Rescue Act

[Congressional Bills 119th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 7144 Introduced in House (IH)]

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119th CONGRESS
  2d Session
                                H. R. 7144

   To amend the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to establish a
   national food rescue system through partnerships with food rescue
                             organizations.

_______________________________________________________________________

                    IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                            January 16, 2026

    Mr. Torres of New York introduced the following bill; which was
                referred to the Committee on Agriculture

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL

   To amend the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 to establish a
   national food rescue system through partnerships with food rescue
                             organizations.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Food Rescue Act''.

SEC. 2. ESTABLISHMENT OF NATIONAL FOOD RESCUE SYSTEM.

    The Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7 U.S.C. 7501 et seq.)
is amended by adding at the end the following:

``SEC. 216. NATIONAL FOOD RESCUE SYSTEM.

    ``(a) Establishment.--The Secretary of Agriculture, acting through
the Food and Nutrition Service, shall establish and operate a national
food rescue system to coordinate the recovery, processing,
transportation, and distribution of surplus and donated food to
emergency feeding organizations and food-insecure communities.
    ``(b) Activities.--In carrying out subsection (a), food rescue
organizations shall--
            ``(1) identify sources of surplus or excess food across the
        agricultural, retail, manufacturing, and distribution sectors;
            ``(2) develop and maintain partnerships with nonprofit food
        rescue organizations, food banks, and local agencies to recover
        and distribute such food;
            ``(3) expand and strengthen logistics and infrastructure
        necessary for food rescue, including aggregation sites,
        transportation, cold-chain storage, and last-mile delivery;
            ``(4) support technology platforms and data systems used to
        identify, track, and redirect surplus food; and
            ``(5) provide technical assistance to participating
        entities to enhance efficiency and coordination.
    ``(c) Grant Program.--To carry out this section, the Secretary
shall establish a competitive grant program to support activities
described in subsection (b).
    ``(d) Eligible Entities.--Grants under this section shall be
awarded to food rescue organizations, which may carry out projects in
partnership with food banks, food recovery networks, State, local,
Tribal, or Territorial governments, logistics providers, front-line
emergency food providers, and other relevant partners.
    ``(e) Use of Funds.--Grant funds may be used for--
            ``(1) food rescue and recovery operations, including
        gleaning and aggregation;
            ``(2) transportation and delivery of surplus food,
        including cold-chain logistics;
            ``(3) storage, processing, or repackaging infrastructure
        needed for redistribution;
            ``(4) technology used to match surplus food with receiving
        organizations in real time;
            ``(5) personnel, equipment, or operational needs that
        support food rescue activities; and
            ``(6) administrative costs, as determined appropriate by
        the Secretary.
    ``(f) Application Requirements.--An eligible entity seeking a grant
under this section shall submit an application to the Secretary at such
time, in such manner, and containing such information as the Secretary
may require, including--
            ``(1) a description of the proposed project and expected
        food-rescue impact, including estimated pounds of food
        recovered and households served;
            ``(2) identification of participating partners, including
        producers, distributors, retailers, or logistics entities;
            ``(3) a budget and implementation timeline; and
            ``(4) a plan for sourcing, transporting, storing, and
        delivering surplus food to emergency feeding organizations and
        food-insecure communities.
    ``(g) Coordination.--The Secretary shall coordinate activities
under this section with--
            ``(1) programs authorized under the Emergency Food
        Assistance Act of 1983;
            ``(2) the Farm-to-Food Bank Project established under
        section 203D; and
            ``(3) other USDA efforts to reduce food loss and waste.
    ``(h) Authorization of Appropriations.--There are authorized to be
appropriated such sums as may be necessary to carry out this
section.''.

SEC. 3. CONFORMING AMENDMENT.

    Section 203D(b) of the Emergency Food Assistance Act of 1983 (7
U.S.C. 7507(b)) is amended by inserting ``(excluding funds appropriated
under section 216)'' after ``appropriated under this Act''.
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