Booker Introduces Bill to Eliminate Toxics from School Lunches and Expand Support for Regenerative Farmers

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Today, U.S. Senator Cory Booker (D-NJ) introduced theSafe School Meals Act (SSMA), legislation to protect children from harmful toxics in school meals. The bill would place limits on heavy metals, ban certain pesticide residues, trigger the safety reassessment of food additives including artificial food dyes that have been linked with health harms, and ban the use of PFAS, phthalates, and bisphenols in school meal food packaging. The bill would increase the funding available for schools to purchase safe school meals.

In 2022, an advocacy group tested 43 public school lunches from 15 states for harmful toxics. The results of this sample were alarming: 95% of the items had detectable levels of glyphosate, which is a carcinogenic pesticide that has been linked to kidney, liver, hormonal, and gut disruption; 74% contained at least one other pesticide; and 100% tested positive for the presence of heavy metals.

While toxics are ubiquitous in the food system, the school meals program should be held to a higher standard. Organic and other regenerative farmers have been growing safe, nutrient-dense food for decades, and numerous manufacturers already avoid toxic ingredients and packaging materials. This bill would support these responsible growers and manufacturers by connecting them to the $17 billion National School Lunch Program. The SSMA would make certification to sell into the school meal program free for small producers and manufacturers. It would also provide grants to manufacturers to switch to toxic-free packaging and grants to producers to remediate their soil and water. The bill would also expand National Organic Cost Share Certification to all eligible farms and lift the cap to cover 100% of certification costs, up to $3,000.

"Kids in America consume far too many harmful substances in their food," said Senator Booker. "School meals should be a child's safest source of nourishment, not another source of toxic exposure. The Safe School Meals Act would protect our children by getting dangerous chemical food additives, heavy metals, and pesticide and chemical residues out of school meals while creating a significant new market opportunity for organic and regenerative farmers."

"Students learn better when they are properly nourished. This bill ties directly into our department vision of providing nutritious meals students enjoy eating in a safe, friendly environment," said Kristin Hilleman, Director of Food & Nutrition Services, Capistrano Unified School District which serves 43,000 students.

"Most organic and small farms have not traditionally had access to school food purchasing programs," said Kate Mendenhall, Executive Director of Organic Farmers Association. "OFA applauds Senator Booker for introducing the Safe School Meals Act, which recognizes the efforts organic farmers put toward producing safe, clean, nutritious products. This legislation would open new markets for organic foods and help make organic certification affordable for small farmers."

"Metabolism is the driver of health, but toxins destroy our metabolism. We can't fix kids' health until we fix the food," saidDr. Robert Lustig, M.D., neuroendocrinologist, professor of pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

"Children need real food to grow, learn, and be successful in school. This bill protects our children from harmful exposure at school," saidAmanda Harvey, Director of Nutrition Services, Fresno Unified School District, serving 73,000 students.

The Safe School Meals Act (SSMA) would protect school children by:

1. Directing the FDA to set safe limits for heavy metals in school meals. The limits would be based on a threshold of reasonable certainty of no harm to school-age children from aggregate exposure. If the agencies fail to set these limits within 2 years, the limits will automatically be set to non-detectable until the agencies can determine a safe level of exposure.
2. Banning glyphosate, paraquat, and organophosphate pesticide residues in school meals. Certified organic farms would automatically meet this requirement.
3. Banning PFAS, phthalates, lead, and bisphenols in food packaging in school meals.
4. Directing FDA to reevaluate food additives with known carcinogenic, reproductive, or developmental health harms, such as artificial food dyes, and ban their use in school meals prior to the completion of FDA's analysis.

Endorsing groups include the American Federation of Teachers, the Michael J. Fox Foundation, the Alliance of Nurses for Healthy Environments, the Organic Farmers Association, Center for Environmental Health, Healthy Schools Now, EAT Real, Unleaded Kids, Environmental Working Group, and Food Fight

To read the full text of the bill, click here.

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