House Agriculture, Education committees hear testimony on Keystone Fresh Act
Hearing over fresh local food in Pa. schools was held today in Harrisburg
Rep. Eddie Day Pashinski October 7, 2025 | 1:30 PM
HARRISBURG, Oct. 7 – The Pennsylvania House Agriculture & Rural Affairs Committee and House Education Committee held a joint hearing today on H.B. 1768, the Keystone Fresh Act, introduced by state Reps. Danilo Burgos and Jonathan Fritz.
The bipartisan legislation would expand access to fresh, locally sourced foods in school meals while supporting Pennsylvania farmers and strengthening local economies. The complete hearing can be viewed here.
"Schools across Pennsylvania serve more than 168 million lunches per year, providing critical nutrients to children across the state and making them one of the largest potential markets for agricultural producers in Pennsylvania,” said Burgos, D-Phila. “However, school board food service providers reportedly only spend 9% of their total food costs on local foods. Local food purchasing incentive legislation, like the Keystone Fresh Act, would establish a grant program incentivizing schools to purchase, promote and serve local foods in their meal programs.”
The Keystone Fresh Act would provide funding for schools to buy more local foods, and resources for farmers to meet school market needs. Research shows that for every $1 spent on local food purchasing initiatives, $1.40 circulates back into local economies. With Pennsylvania’s diverse agriculture sector, this program would improve student nutrition, stimulate the farm economy, and strengthen connections among rural and urban communities.
“Today’s testimony demonstrated how integrating local foods into school meals helps instill healthy eating habits in children, while introducing them to the people and places their food comes from,” said Majority House Agriculture and Rural Affairs Chair Eddie Day Pashinski, D-Luzerne. “The Keystone Fresh Act would be a significant step toward connecting more schools with PA farmers and producers – helping open more markets for PA products and educate our children about the love and labor that goes into growing, harvesting and producing the Pennsylvania products we all love.”
Each year, millions of Pennsylvania students eat school meals, yet only 9% of school food budgets go toward local products.
“Today we had a robust discussion with Pennsylvania food and education experts on a plan that would create an important connection among local farmers and schools to provide healthy and nutritious meals for children,” said Majority House Education Chair Peter Schweyer, D-Lehigh. “Research shows when children have full stomachs they perform better in class. The Keystone Fresh Act would be a win-win for our farmers selling their fresh produce and our children to eat healthy and continue on their paths to success.”