AB 2602 Assembly Bill

BILL NUMBER: AB 2602	INTRODUCED
	BILL TEXT


INTRODUCED BY   Assembly Member Eggman
   (Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Garcia, Gonzalez, and
Quirk-Silva)

                        FEBRUARY 21, 2014

   An act to add Article 10 (commencing with Section 590) to Chapter
3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating
to the Farm to School Program.


	LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


   AB 2602, as introduced, Eggman. Farm to School Program.
   Existing law requires the State Department of Education to ensure
that the nutrition levels of meals served to schoolage children
pursuant to the federal National School Lunch Act be of the highest
quality and greatest nutritional value possible.
   This bill would establish the Farm to School Program, to be
administered by the Department of Food and Agriculture, to provide
for the allocation of grants and technical assistance to school
districts and county offices of education for the purpose of
increasing the provision of fresh and nutritious school meals to
pupils. The bill would authorize the Secretary of Food and
Agriculture to distribute grants to eligible school districts and
county offices of education for the purpose of developing and
maintaining a Farm to School program, and would authorize grants of
up to $2,500 for a schoolsite with less than 1,000 enrolled pupils,
and, for schoolsites with 1,000 or more enrolled pupils, would
authorize grants of up to $5,000 per schoolsite. The bill would
require a school district or county office of education that receives
a grant pursuant to those provisions to comply with specified
reporting requirements. The bill would require the secretary to
convene an interagency working group on increasing the provision of
fresh and nutritious school meals to pupils that includes
representatives of the Department of Food and Agriculture, the State
Department of Education, and the State Department of Health Care
Services. The bill would make the implementation of the Farm to
School Program contingent upon appropriation by the Legislature for
those purposes.
   Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes.
State-mandated local program: no.


THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:

  SECTION 1.  The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:
   (a) The lack of access to nutritious food has led to a rise in
obesity among children, which now affects one out of every three
children in the United States. Obesity can lead to a variety of
health problems, such as type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and
elevated cholesterol levels. Farm to School programs could increase
access to fresh local vegetables and fruits, specifically in urban,
low-income, and rural communities.
   (b) In 2013, federal nutritional standards for foods sold in
schools were updated to comply with the improved nutritional
standards of the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. In
California, 89.1 percent of schools are meeting these new meal
standards. However, California schools are still facing obstacles in
providing healthy meals to pupils, including a lack of adequate
kitchen supplies.
   (c) Farm to School program funding could provide school districts
with the opportunity to update their kitchen supplies to meet new
federal guidelines, and prepare a greater amount and variety of
fruits and vegetables.
  SEC. 2.  Article 10 (commencing with Section 590) is added to
Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code,
to read:

      Article 10.  Farm to School Program


   590.  (a) The Farm to School Program is hereby established for the
purpose of increasing the provision of fresh and nutritious school
meals to pupils through the allocation of grants and the provision of
technical assistance to school districts and county offices of
education. The program shall be administered by the department.
   (b) The secretary shall convene an interagency working group on
increasing the provision of fresh and nutritious school meals to
pupils that includes, but is not limited to, representatives of the
Department of Food and Agriculture, the State Department of
Education, and the State Department of Health Care Services. The
working group shall advise the secretary on all of the following:
   (1) Effective and efficient means of encouraging school districts
and county offices of education to develop a farm to school program.
   (2) The availability of state and nonstate resources and technical
assistance to help school districts and county offices of education
in establishing and maintaining farm to school programs.
   (c) The secretary shall use existing resources to comply with this
section.
   (d) The State Department of Education and the State Department of
Health Care Services shall use existing resources to comply with
subdivision (b).
   591.  (a) An eligible school district or county office of
education may apply to the secretary, in a manner determined by the
secretary, for a grant to develop and maintain a Farm to School
program under this article.
   (b) A school district or county office of education is eligible to
apply for the grant if the schoolsite to which the funds will go
meets one of the following criteria:
   (1) The median household income for the schoolsite is 200 percent
or less of the federal poverty guidelines.
   (2) The schoolsite is located in an area of high unemployment.
   (c) The application, at a minimum, shall include, but is not
limited to, the following information:
   (1) The identity of each school at which a farm to school program
is to be located.
   (2) The grade level or grade levels to be targeted.
   (3) The number of pupils who would use the Farm to School program.

   (4) The proposed menu changes for each participating school.
   (5) The intended items of expenditure for the funds received.
   (d) The application also shall include an explanation of the
six-month reporting requirement specified in Section 593.
   592.  The secretary shall distribute the grants awarded to
eligible school districts or county offices of education in
accordance with the following:
   (a) For a schoolsite with an enrollment of less than 1,000 pupils,
the grant shall be no more than two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500) per schoolsite.
   (b) For a schoolsite with an enrollment of 1,000 or more pupils,
the grant shall be no more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per
schoolsite.
   593.  (a) As a condition of the receipt of funds pursuant to this
article, within six months of the final expenditure of funds received
pursuant to this article, a school district or county office of
education shall report to the secretary, in conjunction with the
interagency working group convened pursuant to subdivision (b) of
Section 590, in a manner prescribed by the secretary, regarding the
use of funds, including how the funds were used to improve access to
fresh and nutritious meals served by the participating school or
schools.
   (b) A school district or county office of education may submit one
report for all of the schools that have received grants that are
under the jurisdiction of the school district or county office of
education.
   594.  The implementation of the provisions of this article is
contingent upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature for those
purposes.