Strengthened in 1998, the Buy American provision of the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act now requires school food authorities to purchase domestic commodities or products when using government funds. Throughout recent months, the USDA has been proactively making this law a priority. In November 2001, the USDA presented an updated version of the provision in The Food Buying Guide for Child Nutrition Programs. The provision now states: • •   Schools and institutions participating in the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program in the contiguous United States are required by law to use school foodservice funds, to the maximum extent practicable, to buy domestic commodities or products for meals served under these programs. A “domestic commodity or product” is defined as one that is either produced in the United States or is processed in the United States substantially using agricultural commodities that are produced in the United States. The term “substantially” means that over 51 percent of the final product consists of agricultural commodities that were grown domestically. Therefore, when school foodservice funds are used to acquire foods, schools and institutions must ensure that the items are in compliance with this requirement. U.S. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Service PA-1331 January 1984 Revised November 2001