A BILL TO BE ENTITLED
AN ACT to establish a pilot program to ensure that school food services serve only healthful, nutritious foods.
The General Assembly of North Carolina enacts:
SECTION 1.(a)  The State Board of Education, with the advice and assistance of The North Carolina School Food Service Association and the Academy of Family Physicians, shall develop and implement a pilot program to support the efforts of local school administrative units to provide only healthful, nutritious food choices to students.  The State Board of Education shall select up to eight local school administrative units to participate in the pilot program and shall set standards for the food choices offered to students.  In selecting the eight pilot units, the State Board shall give priority to those units that volunteer to be a pilot.
For the 2004‑2005 school year, pilot units shall implement the program in elementary schools.  
SECTION 1.(b)  If, at the end of the 2004‑2005 school year, the State Board of Education finds that a pilot unit experienced a decrease in food service revenues because students opted not to purchase the healthful, nutritious food choices offered by the school food service, the State Board shall reimburse the unit for that decrease in revenues.
SECTION 2.  There is appropriated from the General Fund to the State Board of Education the sum of twenty‑five thousand dollars ($25,000) for the 2004‑2005 fiscal year to implement the provisions of this act.
SECTION 3.  This act becomes effective July 1, 2004.