BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 581
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Date of Hearing: May 3, 2011
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON HEALTH
William W. Monning, Chair
AB 581 (John A. Pérez) - As Introduced: February 16, 2011
SUBJECT : Public health: food access.
SUMMARY : Establishes the California Healthy Food Financing
Initiative (CHFFI) and Fund for the purpose of expanding access
to healthy foods in underserved communities. Further, it
requires, by July 1, 2012, specified agencies to prepare
recommended actions to be taken to promote food access within
California. This authority remains in effect until January 1,
2015. Specifically, this bill :
1)Establishes CHFFI and requires, by July 1, 2012, the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), in
consultation with the State Department of Public Health (DPH)
and the State Department of Social Services (DSS), to prepare
recommendations to the Legislature, regarding actions that
need to be taken to promote food access in the state.
2)Permits the Secretary of CDFA to create an advisory group to
assist agencies in developing recommendations. Requires the
make-up of the group to include representatives from the
Legislature, food policy advocates, grocery and financial
industries representatives, food systems researchers,
agricultural representatives, and nonprofit organizations with
food access expertise.
3)Permits CDFA, in consultation with DPH, DSS, and the
Treasurer, to coordinate efforts to maximize funding
opportunities provided by the federal 2010 Healthy Food
Financing Initiative (HFFI).
4)Requires CDFA, in consultation with DPH, DSS, and the
Treasurer, to implement CHFFI only to the extent that federal
funds are made available. States that this initiative is
intended to expand access to nutritious foods in underserved
areas and eliminate food deserts across the nation in seven
years.
5)Establishes the CHFFI Fund in the State Treasury, to be
comprised of federal, state, and private funds and requires
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them to be used to expand access to healthy foods in
underserved communities. Directs funds, to the extent
practicable, to be leveraged with other funding sources, as
specified, including, federal Community Reinvestment Act
funds.
6)Sunsets CHFFI on January 1, 2015, unless future statues delete
or extend that date.
7)Makes legislative findings and declarations describing
California's productive farmlands and production, the need to
protect farmland for future food supplies, that access to
healthy food is a basic human right, that lack of access could
relate to higher rates of diseases, and that opportunities for
greater access to food should be actively pursued and
fostered.
FISCAL EFFECT : This bill has not yet been analyzed by a fiscal
committee.
COMMENTS :
1)PURPOSE OF THIS BILL . According to the author, residents of
communities referred to as food deserts do not have access to
a selection of healthy foods such as, fruits, vegetables or
dairy products. As a result, the author maintains, residents
of these geographic areas generally have higher incidences of
certain types of diseases, including: diabetes, cancer,
obesity, heart disease, and premature death. This bill, the
author argues, is mirrored after successful healthy food
financing programs in the states of Pennsylvania and New York
and addresses the issue by encouraging the active pursuit of
opportunities to increase the number of grocery stores, farm
stands, farmers' markets, direct farm to institutions and
consumer markets, and community gardens in underserved urban
and rural communities.
2)FOOD DESERT . Congress requested in the Food Conservation and
Energy Act of 2008, that the U.S. Department of Agriculture
(USDA) study food deserts and issue their findings. According
to their report "Access to Affordable and Nutritious Food:
Measuring and Understanding their Consequences (USDA report),"
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a food desert is a food environment unsupportive of health; it
is defined by barriers which restrict access to healthy foods
such as, lack of access to food retailers, availability of
nutritious foods, or affordability of foods.
Research indicates that land-use policies that facilitate
development of predominately wealthy and suburban
neighborhoods have altered the distribution of food stores.
In the interest of profitability, larger supermarkets have
followed this trend and are most prevalent in suburban
neighborhoods. Food supply within inner-cities and some rural
areas includes less variety and denying some residents the
benefits of healthy foods at affordable prices. Remaining
food retailers in these areas are gas stations, convenience
stores, and liquor stores. A diet based on foods from these
locations consists primarily of processed foods high in
calories, sugars, salt, fat, and artificial ingredients.
Health disparities related to food access and consumption are
associated with residential segregation, low incomes, and
neighborhood deprivation.
The main factor used to classify a community as a food desert is
distance from nutritional food retailers. There is no
standard for "inadequate" access or "adequate" access to
foods. Access to food is calculated by distance of consumer
residence to nearest supermarket or grocery store. Residents
of food desert areas have no alternative but to utilize
private cars, travel several miles on foot, or use public
transit to gain access to healthy food. Consumers without
cars are dependent on food sources in their closest proximity.
The problem increases in rural food desert areas, where
closing the distance to nutritional food access can be
challenging on foot.
Demonstrating the constraints of residents of food deserts and
their ability to access affordable nutritious food because
they live far from supermarkets or large grocery stores and do
not have easy access to transportation are the findings from
the USDA report, which found that:
a) Of all U.S. households, 2.3 million (2.2%), live more
than a mile from a supermarket and do not have access to a
vehicle. An additional 3.4 million households (3.2%) live
between one-half to one mile from a supermarket and do not
have access to a vehicle.
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b) Area-based measures of access show that 23.5 million
people live in low-income areas (areas where more than 40%
of the population has an income at or below 200% of federal
poverty thresholds) that are more than one mile from a
supermarket or large grocery store. However, not all of
these 23.5 million people have low incomes. If estimates
are restricted to consider only low-income people in
low-income areas, then 11.5 million people, (4.1% of the
U.S. population) live in low-income areas more than one
mile from a supermarket.
c) Data on time use and travel mode show that people living
in low-income areas with limited access spend significantly
more time (19.5 minutes) traveling to a grocery store than
the national average (15 minutes). However, 93% of those
who live in low-income areas with limited access traveled
to the grocery store in a vehicle they or another household
member drove.
3)HEALTHY FOOD FINANCING INITIATIVE . In early 2010, the Obama
Administration unveiled the HFFI which proposes to allocate
over $340 million to the program to support projects that
increase access to healthy, affordable food in communities
that currently lack these options. Through a range of
programs at (USDA), the U.S. Treasury, and the federal
Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), HFFI will
expand the availability of nutritious food, including
developing and equipping grocery stores, small retailers,
corner stores, and farmers markets selling healthy food.
Through the expertise of the USDA, U.S. Treasury, and HHS, HFFI
brings the expertise and resources to give stakeholders a full
range of tools to increase access to healthy foods. According
to HHS, these three federal partners will make the funding
available through the following shared set of goals and
objectives:
a) USDA's proposed 2011 budget includes a funding level of
$50 million that will support more than $150 million in
public and private investments in the form of loans,
grants, promotions, and other programs designed to create
healthy food options in food deserts across the country:
i) A total of $35 million in fiscal year 2011
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discretionary funding is proposed to remain available
until September 30, 2012 for financial and technical
assistance; and,
ii) An additional $15 million in funds is proposed to
support technical or financial assistance and such
resources is proposed to come from a set aside of up to
10% of the funds made available through selected Rural
Development and Agricultural Marketing Service programs.
b) The U.S. Treasury plans to dedicate $275 million to
support private sector financing of healthy foods options
in distressed urban and rural communities: Through the New
Markets Tax Credit (NMTC) and financial assistance to
Treasury-certified community development financial
institutions (TCDFIs), the U.S. Treasury has a proven track
record of expanding access to nutritious foods by
catalyzing private sector investment. The budget requests
$250 million in authority for the NMTC and $25 million for
financial assistance to TCDFIs.
c) The HHS proposes up to $20 million in Community Economic
Development (CED) program funds for community-based efforts
to improve the economic and physical health of people in
distressed areas: The CED program, HHS will award
competitive grants to Community Development Corporations to
support projects that finance grocery stores, farmers
markets, and other sources of fresh nutritious food. These
projects will serve the dual purposes of facilitating
access to healthy food options while creating job and
business development opportunities in low-income
communities, particularly since grocery stores often serve
as anchor institutions in commercial areas.
According to HHS, many types of organizations are eligible for
funding and/or technical assistance, including, state
departments of agriculture, businesses, local and tribal
governments, non-profit organizations, cooperatives and
universities, TCDFIs, and community development corporations.
4)SUPPORT . Supporters of this measure write that creating a
CHHFI Fund in the State Treasury, and bringing together the
CDFA and other state agencies and stakeholders to coordinate
efforts, is a smart way to achieve maximum impact and allow
CHFFI to leverage funding from sources such as NMTCs, federal
and foundation grant programs, incentives available to
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designated enterprise zones, the federal Specialty Crop Block
Grant Program, and funding from private sector financial
institutions to expand much needed access to healthy food in
underserved California communities. Supporters argue that 20%
of California adults are obese, and researchers find that
low-income children and children of color have the highest
rates of obesity and related health problems. Supporters
maintain that the time is ripe for California to demonstrate
the state's commitment to improving access to healthy food.
5)PRIOR LEGISLATION . AB 2720 (John A. Pérez) of 2010, was
substantially similar to this bill and passed by this
committee last year on a vote of 6-0. AB 2720 was vetoed
during last year's budget negotiations by Governor
Schwarzenegger with the following veto message: "While my
Administration shares the same goals as the author when it
comes to promoting healthy and affordable food access for
low-income communities in California, the Healthy Food
Financing Initiative has not yet been acted on by Congress.
Unless and until those important federal funding details are
known, this bill is both premature and unnecessary."
6)DOUBLE REFERRAL . This bill was previously heard in Assembly
Agriculture Committee on April 27, 2011 and was approved on a
9-0 vote.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
American Academy of Pediatrics, California District
California Catholic Conference, Inc.
California Center for Rural Policy
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Medical Association
California Nurses Association
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Physical Therapy Association
California Primary Care Association
California State Association of Counties
California State Grange
California State PTA
Children NOW
Children's Defense Fund - California
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Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organizations
County Health Executives Association of California
First 5 LA
PolicyLink
Western Growers
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Tanya Robinson-Taylor / HEALTH / (916)
319-2097