PlainBillCongress, translated.Legislation. Context. Public interest.Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Congressional Research Service
Version 00 · Introduced in House · Dec 7, 2015
Food Recovery Act of 2015
This bill amends the following to provide funding, expand tax deductions, and establish requirements to reduce food waste: the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act; the Internal Revenue Code; the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act; the Solid Waste Disposal Act; and several agricultural laws.
The bill expands and establishes federal grant and loan programs to:
Showing the opening paragraphs of the official summary.
improve the nutritional health of children and raise awareness about food waste,
improve cooperation between agricultural producers and emergency feeding organizations,
assist schools in using food from farms that would otherwise go to waste and providing farms with compostable materials, and
install facilities that include composting or anaerobic digesters that use food or crop waste to produce energy.
Recipients of grants to install anaerobic digesters that use waste to produce energy must meet specified requirements regarding environmental laws and the distribution of certain food to hunger-serving organizations.
USDA must: (1) establish an Office of Food Recovery to coordinate federal programs to measure and reduce food waste, and (2) study techniques for decreasing food waste and estimating the amount of food wasted by farms.
The bill provides that composting is a conservation practice eligible for support under USDA's conservation programs.
The bill extends and expands tax deductions for the donation of food to charitable organizations.
"Sell-by" dates included on food labeling must indicate that the dates are only the manufacturer's suggestion and use uniform language.
Companies that receive food service contracts with the federal government must donate surplus food to nonprofit organizations that assist food-insecure people.
People & committees
Rep. Pingree, Chellie [D-ME-1] · D–ME
Legislative record
A procedural vote is different from passage. Passage in one chamber does not establish enactment. Explore the glossary.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary Education.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Sponsor introductory remarks on measure. (CR H9089)
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Agriculture, and in addition to the Committees on House Administration, Oversight and Government Reform, Ways and Means, Education and the Workforce, and Energy and Commerce, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Primary sources
Text links open the official source. We currently store references to these documents.
Source last updated: Mar 23, 2026. Consult Congress.gov for the current record.
AI Conversation Starters
Choose a perspective, copy a prompt, and paste it into your preferred AI. Each prompt includes the bill version and available official source links, and asks for counterarguments as well as supporting evidence.
Analyze H.R.4184 as objectively as possible. Explain its main provisions, who would be affected, possible benefits and harms, implementation, exceptions, and uncertainties. Present the strongest arguments for and against it, and identify evidence needed to assess its public impact.
Examine H.R.4184 through a progressive lens, focusing on fairness, access, economic inequality, and effects on vulnerable communities. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and distinguish stated goals from demonstrated outcomes.
Examine H.R.4184 through a conservative lens, focusing on fiscal responsibility, institutional stability, federalism, and the scope of government. Explain potential benefits, costs, and unintended consequences. Consider the strongest counterarguments and any provisions that challenge this perspective.
Examine H.R.4184 through a civil-liberties and limited-government lens. Consider individual rights, privacy, voluntary choice, accountability, and government power. Explain tradeoffs, possible safeguards, and the strongest counterarguments without assuming the proposal is beneficial or harmful.