BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 38
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 1, 2013
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
AB 38 (Perez, John A) - As Amended: March 19, 2013
SUBJECT : Office of Farm to Fork.
SUMMARY : Creates the Office of Farm to Fork (OF2F) within the
California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to work
with various groups and organizations involved in promoting food
access, to increase the amount of agricultural products
available to schools and underserved communities in the state.
Specifically, this bill :
1)Makes the following legislative declarations and findings:
a) Some Californians lack access to healthy food,
especially people in disadvantaged communities, and states
the health issues that arise from this situation.
Furthermore, there is no single agency to coordinate the
numerous public and private organizations who work on food
access issues.
b) A state level office to coordinate and facilitate food
access can increase efficiency in food access programs.
Furthermore, CDFA is well situated to house an OF2F due to
its expertise with the agricultural community and its
ability to bring farmers together with those who need
access to healthy foods.
2)Creates OF2F to work with public and private organizations
interested in food access to increase the availability of
agricultural products to underserved communities.
3)Creates a Farm to Fork (F2F) account in the CDFA fund.
Requires funds to consist of money made available from
federal, state, industry and other sources.
4)Allows funds deposited in the F2F account to be used for OF2F,
without regard to fiscal year.
EXISTING LAW establishes the California Healthy Food Financing
Initiative for the purpose of promoting healthy food access in
the state.
AB 38
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FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. Legislative Counsel has keyed this
bill fiscal.
COMMENTS : F2F is a term that encompasses efforts that bring
local or regionally produced foods to people who want or need
access to these products. F2F is currently being accomplished
in many different ways in California. It can be seen in
farmer's markets, community supported agriculture (CSA), and
other venues where people can buy food directly from growers.
Other examples are farm to school programs that increase access
and awareness for fresh fruits and vegetables through the use of
school gardens and education, and community and urban gardens
that help communities grow their own foods.
At the state level many different agencies are working on F2F
issues:
1)CDFA works with farmers' markets, CSA and other direct
marketing to close the gap between farmer and consumer, and
through the specialty grant program, has promoted farm to
school programs, CSAs, and community fresh foods networks.
2)California Department of Education's Farm to School programs
connect schools with local farms with the objectives of
serving healthy meals in school cafeterias, improving student
nutrition, providing health and nutrition education
opportunities, and supporting local small farmers.
3)Department of Public Health has a wide variety of programs
dedicated to helping Californians eat healthier, including
more local fruits and vegetables. Programs include:
Children's Power Play! Campaign, which promotes exercise and
increasing the serving of fresh fruits and vegetables, and the
Local Food and Nutrition Education program, which provides
nutrition education and promotes access to healthy food.
By creating the OF2F within CDFA to coordinate with state and
federal agencies, along with private and public organizations,
this bill will help streamline F2F efforts. The author states
CDFA is uniquely situated to administer the OF2F due to CDFA's
knowledge of the agricultural industry, and CDFA's ability to
bring farmers together with a variety of public and private
organizations to increase the supply of healthy food.
AB 38
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REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
Rural Counties of California (RCRC)
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916)
319-2084