July 27, 2026
Mr. Barrett introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Armed Services
To provide healthy food options in military commissaries, and for other purposes.
Section 1. Short title
This Act may be cited as the Healthy Commissaries, Healthy Families Act
.
Sec. 2. Program to provide healthy foods to commissaries
(a) Program required
The Director of the Defense Commissary Agency shall carry out a program to increase the availability, visibility, affordability, and promotion of healthy foods at commissaries located in the United States in accordance with this section.
(b) Director of Healthy Foods
The Director of the Defense Commissary Agency shall appoint an officer or employee of the Defense Commissary Agency to serve as the Director of Healthy Foods for commissaries.
(c) Plan
(1) Requirement
Not later than 180 days after the date of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a plan to improve the availability of healthy foods at commissaries located in the United States. Such plan shall include—
(A)
a strategy and timeline for the availability of healthy foods at commissaries;
(B)
an identification of actions that will be taken to incorporate the use of local farmers and farmers markets in the provision of healthy foods to commissaries;
(C)
an identification of actions and resources necessary to accomplish the items described in paragraphs (1) through (6) of subsection (d); and
(D)
any recommendations of the Secretary for administrative or legislative action to improve the availability of healthy foods at commissaries and accomplish the items described in paragraphs (1) through (6) of subsection (d).
(2) Briefing
Not later than 30 days after the date of the submission of the plan required by paragraph (1), the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall provide a briefing on such plan to the appropriate congressional committees.
(d) Interagency cooperation
Not later than 180 days after the date of the submission of the plan required by subsection (c)(1), the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, and the Secretary of Agriculture shall jointly establish procedures to improve healthy food options at commissaries, including procedures to—
(1)
coordinate nutrition research;
(2)
share best practices for procuring healthy foods and related items;
(3)
increase the availability of healthy foods at commissaries;
(4)
identify farmers, farmers markets, and other community entities located near commissaries that can assist in making healthy foods available at commissaries;
(5)
promote nutrition education and information for military families; and
(6)
share relevant data among the Department of Defense, the Department of Health and Human Services, and the Department of Agriculture.
(e) Community outreach
The Director of Healthy Foods, in consultation with designees of the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture, shall conduct outreach to agricultural producers, farmers markets, and farmers within the local area of a commissary to identify opportunities to increase participation by such producers, farmers markets, and farmers in providing healthy foods at commissaries.
(f) Public resources
Not later than 180 days after the date of the submission of the plan required by subsection (c)(1), the Director of the Defense Commissary Agency shall make publicly available on the website of the Defense Commissary Agency resources relating to healthy foods specific to each commissary location, including identification of farms, farmers markets, and other healthy food resources available near each such location.
(g) Report
Not later than 1 year after the date of the submission of the plan required by subsection (c)(1), the Secretary of Defense, in consultation with the Secretary of Health and Human Services and the Secretary of Agriculture, shall submit to the appropriate congressional committees a report on the implementation of this section, including—
(1)
the implementation such plan;
(2)
outreach conducted under subsection (e);
(3)
the availability of healthy foods at commissaries, any sales trends or consumer demands related to such availability, the cost of making such healthy foods available, any challenges in procuring such healthy foods, and an estimate of the satisfaction of military families with such healthy foods; and
(4)
any recommendations of the Secretary of Defense for administrative or legislative action with respect to the implementation of such plan.
(h) Definitions
In this section:
(1) Appropriate congressional committees
The term appropriate congressional committees
means—
(A)
the Committees on Armed Services of the House of Representatives and the Senate;
(B)
the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate; and
(C)
the Committee on Energy and Commerce of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions of the Senate.
(2) Healthy food
The term healthy food
means food consistent with the most recent dietary guidelines published in accordance with section 301(a) of the National Nutrition Monitoring and Related Research Act of 1990 (7 U.S.C. 5341(a)).
(i) Termination
The requirements of this section shall terminate on December 31, 2030.