Requires each school district with middle school or high school to establish food services advisory committee to consider menu options that reflect students' cultural, traditional, and dietary preferences.

S3987

SENATE, No. 3987

STATE OF NEW JERSEY

222nd LEGISLATURE

�

INTRODUCED MARCH 19, 2026

Sponsored by:

Senator� JOSEPH F. VITALE

District 19 (Middlesex)

SYNOPSIS

���� Requires each school district with middle school or
high school to establish food services advisory committee to consider menu
options that reflect students� cultural, traditional, and dietary preferences.�

CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT

���� As introduced.

��

An Act
concerning school breakfast and lunch menus and
supplementing chapter 33 of Title 18A of the New Jersey Statutes.�

����
Be It
Enacted
by the Senate and General Assembly of
the State of New Jersey:

���� 1.��� a.��� The chief school
administrator or a designee of each school district that includes a middle
school or high school, where a need is determined pursuant to subsection f. of
this section, shall establish a food services advisory committee to consider
and recommend school breakfast and lunch menu options that better reflect the
cultural, traditional, and dietary food preferences of the student body including,
but not limited to, vegetarian and vegan meal options.� The committee shall
serve in an advisory capacity and make recommendations to school principals,
the chief school administrator or a designee, and the food services provider.

���� b.��� Members of the committee
shall be selected by the chief school administrator or a designee and shall
include a principal or a designee,

a food services employee of the district or contractor as
applicable, the chief school administrator or a designee, at least four
students enrolled in the school district�s middle schools or high schools, and
one or more parents of those students.� A student who expresses an interest in
participating on the committee shall be considered for membership.� In the
event that a school nurse expresses an interest in participating on the
committee, the chief school administrator or a designee shall appoint a school
nurse to the committee.

���� c.���� The committee shall
convene at least three times during each school year with at least one meeting
in each half of the school year.

���� d.��� In making its
recommendations for new menu options that better reflect the cultural,
traditional, and dietary food preferences of the student body, the committee
shall also consider: available funding for the school breakfast and school
lunch program, equipment, and other issues that may serve to limit food
choices; the ability of the food services provider and its employees to comply
with the recommendations; and the nutritional value of the new menu options.

���� e.���� Any new menu options
offered by the school district

shall meet nutritional standards in the National School Lunch
and School Breakfast Programs.

���� f.���� To determine the need
for a food services advisory committee in a particular school district, a
district shall provide a written form to each student enrolled in the
district�s middle schools and high schools to inquire on whether the student
has an unmet cultural, traditional, or dietary food preference.� At a minimum
the form shall include an area for the student�s name and contact information,
an area for the student to describe any unmet food preference requested to be
addressed, a question on whether the student would like vegetarian or vegan
meal options offered in addition to the current meal options, and an area where
the student may request to participate on the food services advisory
committee.� The form shall also be made available to students and parents on
the school district�s Internet website.

���� g.��� The requirements of this
section may be suspended for one school year at the discretion of the chief
school administrator in the event that:

���� (1)�� no student indicates an
unmet food preference on the written or Internet form; or

���� (2)�� the response of students
on the written or Internet form is de minimis in nature and the food
preferences of those students can be met to the satisfaction of the students
without a food services advisory committee.

���� h.��� Notwithstanding the
provisions of subsection g. of this section to the contrary, if a student
expresses an interest in vegetarian or vegan menu items, the school district
shall make all reasonable efforts to expand its school breakfast and school
lunch menus to include hot and cold vegetarian and vegan meal options.

���� i.���� In the event that on
the effective date of this section, a school district has a method for
resolving student grievances that includes student representation, the school
district may substitute that body in the place of a food services advisory
committee and that body shall fulfill the requirements established pursuant to
this section.� If at any time that body is no longer functional, the school
district shall comply with the requirements of this section within 60 days.

���� 2.��� This act shall take
effect in the first full school year following the date of enactment.

STATEMENT

����� This bill directs the chief school administrator of a
school district that includes a middle school or high school to establish a
food services advisory committee to consider and recommend school breakfast and
lunch menu options that better reflect the cultural, traditional, and dietary
food preferences of the student body, including vegetarian and vegan meal
options.� The committee will serve in an advisory capacity and make
recommendations to the chief school administrator, the school principals, and the
food services provider.

����� Under the bill, the members of the committee will be
selected by the chief school administrator or a designee and will include a
principal or a designee, a food services employee, the chief school
administrator or a designee, at least four students enrolled in the school
district�s middle schools or high schools, and one or more parents of those
students.� In the event that a school nurse expresses an interest in serving on
the food services advisory committee, the chief school administrator or a
designee will appoint a school nurse to the committee.

����� In making its recommendations for new menu options,
the committee is directed to also consider: available funding for the school
breakfast and school lunch programs, equipment, and other issues that may serve
to limit food choices; the ability of the food services provider and its
employees to comply with the recommendations; and the nutritional value of the
new menu options.� Finally, the bill provides that any new menu options offered
by the school district must meet nutritional standards in the National School
Lunch and School Breakfast Programs.

����� To determine the need for a food services advisory
committee in a particular school district, a district must provide a written
form to each student enrolled in the district�s middle schools and high schools
to inquire on whether the student has an unmet food preference.� The form will
also be available on the school district�s Internet website.� The bill�s
requirements may be suspended for one school year at the discretion of the
chief school administrator in the event that 1) no student indicates an unmet
food preference on the written or Internet form, or 2) the response of students
is de minimis in nature and the food preferences of those students can be met
to the satisfaction of the students without a food services advisory committee.

����� In the event that on the bill�s effective date a
school district has a method for resolving student grievances that includes
student representation, the school district may substitute that body in the
place of a food services advisory committee and that body will fulfill the
requirements established under the bill.