H.R. 10969: Healthy Meal Time Act of 2026

This bill would direct the U.S. Department of Agriculture, working with the Department of Education, to create a small task force within one year to study school lunch timing and related issues. The task force would be made up of no more than five members appointed by the Agriculture Secretary, including at least one representative from a state education agency and one from a school food authority.

The task force would have one year after being formed to develop best practices for schools that participate in the federal school lunch program. These best practices would focus on:

• what time of day lunches are served,
• what time of day recess is offered, and
• how long lunch periods last.

In developing the recommendations, the task force would be required to:

• review research on lunch timing, recess timing, and lunch period length,
• consider the time students spend on non-eating activities during lunch, such as walking from class, waiting in line, getting utensils or condiments, and cleaning up, and
• make sure any recommended amount of seated eating time matches the latest CDC recommendation and gives students enough time to eat unprocessed and minimally processed foods.

After the task force submits its report, the Agriculture Secretary, together with the Education Secretary, would have one year to issue guidance to schools participating in the school lunch program based on those best practices. The bill does not directly require schools to change their schedules or lunch periods, but it would create federal guidance intended to influence how schools structure lunch and recess.

Relevant Companies

None found.