BILL ANALYSIS                                                                                                                                                                                                    Ó



                                                                            



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                                    THIRD READING


          Bill No:  AB 2413
          Author:   John A. Pérez (D), et al.
          Amended:  8/19/14 in Senate
          Vote:     21

           
           SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE  :  5-0, 6/17/14
          AYES:  Galgiani, Cannella, Berryhill, Lieu, Wolk

           SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE  :  5-0, 8/14/14
          AYES:  De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Walters, Gaines
           
          ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  75-0, 5/19/14 - See last page for vote


           SUBJECT  :    The Office of Farm to Fork

           SOURCE  :     Author


           DIGEST  :    This bill creates the Office of Farm to Fork (OFF)  
          within the Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) and requires  
          OFF, to the extent that resources are available, to work with  
          various entities, to increase the amount of agricultural  
          products available to underserved communities and schools in the  
          state.  This bill creates the Farm to Fork Account (Account) in  
          the DFA Fund that will consist of money made available from  
          federal, state, industry, and other sources, and continuously  
          appropriate money deposited in the Account to carry out the  
          purposes of OFF.  This bill also, until January 1, 2020,  
          requires the DFA, to submit to the Legislature an overview of  
          the Account's income and expenditures if specified conditions  
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          exist.

           ANALYSIS  :    

          Existing law:

          1.Establishes the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative  
            (CHFFI) for the purpose of promoting healthy food access to  
            underserved communities.  The CHFFI Council is required to  
            develop program parameters and financing options to accomplish  
            this goal.  

          2.Directs DFA to develop recommendations for actions to be taken  
            to promote food access.  In a 2012 report, recommendations  
            included improving the distribution of fresh produce,  
            expanding retail options for healthy food, helping low-income  
            consumers purchase food, and supporting nutritious school  
            meals.  According to this report, the state can use existing  
            infrastructure and relationships with farmers and food  
            distributors to increase food access, and the state can  
            coordinate existing state and federal resources to target them  
            toward use in underserved communities. 

          This bill:

          1.States findings and declarations regarding access of healthy  
            food for disadvantaged urban and rural communities, the  
            prevalence of chronic health conditions related to poor diets  
            in these communities, the current organizations seeking to  
            resolve this problem, and the acknowledgment that DFA is  
            uniquely situated to address this issue on a statewide level.

          2.Creates OFF within DFA and requires OFF, to the extent  
            resources are available, to work with the agricultural  
            industry, direct marketing organizations, food policy  
            councils, public health groups, nonprofit and philanthropic  
            organizations, academic institutions, district agricultural  
            associations, government agencies, and other organizations  
            involved in promoting food access.

          3.Requires OFF to do all of the following:

             A.   Work with stakeholders to identify urban and rural  
               communities that lack access to healthy food, determine  

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               current barriers, and share information to encourage best  
               practices.

             B.   Coordinate with governmental agencies to increase  
               awareness of programs promoting greater food access.

             C.   Promote retail sale of healthy foods in underserved  
               communities, including promoting the use of CalFresh and  
               Women, Infants, and Children benefits at farmers' markets,  
               supporting urban agriculture, and increasing the quantity  
               and quality of retail food stores.

             D.   Foster partnerships among community partners.

             E.   Identify distribution barriers that affect food access  
               and overcome those barriers by encouraging food hubs,  
               coordinating institutional food-buying practices, and  
               increasing access to resources such as the CHFFI.

             F.   Identify opportunities and provide assistance for  
               collaboration between farmers and food banks or other  
               nonprofit organizations to distribute agricultural products  
               to reduce hunger and increase access to healthy foods.

             G.   Identify opportunities to collaborate with community  
               organizations to provide cooking and nutrition classes to  
               underserved residents.

             H.   Coordinate with school districts to encourage best  
               purchasing practices, increase nutrition in schools, and  
               increase access to nutrition education.

          1.Creates the Account within the DFA Fund that shall consist of  
            monies made available from federal, state, industry,  
            philanthropic, and private sources, and be appropriated  
            continuously without regard to fiscal year to carry out  
            purposes of the above provisions.

          2.Requires, until January 1, 2020, DFA in any year in which  
            funds are received into or expanded from the Account, to  
            submit to the Legislature an overview of the Account's income  
            and expenditures.

           Background 

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          The concept of "farm to fork" is gaining nationwide interest as  
          a means to bring fresh, healthy foods from the farm directly to  
          consumers, restaurants, food banks, farmers' markets, and other  
          retail food outlets.  A broad and loosely defined term, the  
          overarching purpose of the farm-to-fork movement is to connect  
          consumers and farmers, create infrastructure for food  
          distribution, and improve food access.  

           Prior legislation  .  AB 581 (Pérez, Chapter 505, Statutes of  
          2011) creates the CHFFI for the purpose of promoting healthy  
          food access to underserved communities.

           FISCAL EFFECT  :    Appropriation:  Yes   Fiscal Com.:  Yes    
          Local:  No

          According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, DFA currently  
          operates a farm to fork program via an interagency agreement  
          with two other state departments.  However, the duties of OFF,  
          as prescribed in this bill, could potentially result in workload  
          and subsequent costs that exceed the current value of the  
          contract by a potentially several hundred thousands of dollars  
          (special fund, see Staff Comments).  Costs to DFA to create a  
          new account within the Food and Agriculture Fund would be minor  
          and absorbable.

           SUPPORT  :   (Verified  8/19/14)

          American Academy of Pediatrics, California 
          Association of California Healthcare Districts
          Rural County Representatives of California

           ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT  :    According to the author, this bill  
          "Creates the Office of Farm to Fork within the California  
          Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to work with various  
          entities including the agricultural industry, direct marketing  
          organizations, food policy councils, public health groups,  
          schools, district agricultural associations, county, state and  
          federal agencies and other organizations involved in promoting  
          food access in order to increase the amount of agricultural  
          products available to schools and underserved communities."

          Current efforts are underway by a variety of public and private  
          entities to achieve the goal of increasing food access.  It has  

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          been argued that DFA has the expertise, relationships, and  
          infrastructure to further these efforts through a collaborative  
          statewide program.  According to the 2012 DFA report previously  
          referenced, "Government and private efforts to increase food  
          access are already underway at the federal, state, and local  
          levels.  In order to harmonize these efforts and avoid  
          duplication, the state can take an active role in coordinating  
          efforts and sharing information among the various entities  
          working to increase food access.  CHFFI can serve to facilitate  
          this coordination and make sure communities have partners at the  
          table and that they are connected to the appropriate funding  
          sources."


           ASSEMBLY FLOOR  :  75-0, 5/19/14
          AYES:  Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,  
            Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian  
            Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,  
            Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,  
            Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,  
            Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden,  
            Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,  
            Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Olsen, Pan,  
            Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,  
            Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,  
            Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,  
            Williams, Yamada, Atkins
          NO VOTE RECORDED:  Donnelly, Mansoor, Nazarian, Nestande,  
            Vacancy


          JL/AL:k  8/19/14   Senate Floor Analyses 

                           SUPPORT/OPPOSITION:  SEE ABOVE

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