This bill, known as the Plant-Powered School Meals Pilot Act, amends the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act to establish a new pilot grant program. The program's primary goal is to enable eligible school food authorities to offer 100 percent plant-based food and milk options to students. Grants will be awarded for a term of three years, with priority given to schools serving a high proportion of children eligible for free or reduced-price meals.

Funds from these grants can be utilized for various activities, including providing professional development training for food service personnel on preparing, procuring, and marketing plant-based meals. They also support student engagement and education through taste tests and culinary instruction, and facilitate outreach to and procurement from underserved, limited resource, organic, and local agricultural producers of plant-based foods. Applicants demonstrating collaboration with community organizations and incorporating culturally appropriate plant-based education will receive priority.

Participating school food authorities are required to submit annual reports detailing the number of plant-based options served and how grant funds were used, with the Secretary of Agriculture then compiling and submitting a report to Congress. Beyond the plant-based food pilot, the bill also amends existing law to clarify and strengthen requirements for accommodating students' dietary needs. It mandates that schools provide nondairy milk as a reasonable accommodation for students with disabilities and for other medical or special dietary needs.

A separate pilot grant program is authorized to reimburse eligible school food authorities for the full cost of providing these required nondairy beverages. This specific pilot prioritizes schools with a high proportion of students experiencing lactose intolerance or other dietary needs for nondairy options. The bill authorizes $10,000,000 for the plant-based food pilot and $2,000,000 for the nondairy beverage cost reimbursement pilot for fiscal year 2026.