BILL NUMBER: AB 2602 AMENDED
BILL TEXT
AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY APRIL 2, 2014
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 amended, 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 Program within 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. specified
purposes, including serving healthy meals in school cafeterias.
The bill would authorize the Secretary of Food and Agriculture
to distribute grants of up to $5,000 per schoolsite 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. purposes including, among others, food
literacy education. 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. Public
Health. 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 California grown
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
will provide school districts with the opportunity to update
their kitchen supplies to meet new federal nutritional
guidelines, increase staff training related to the preparation
of fresh foods, educate pupils on nutrition, 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
within the department for the purpose of increasing
the provision of fresh and nutritious school meals to pupils
promoting the objectives specified in subdivision (b)
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) "Farm to school program" means a program that connects schools
and California farms with the objectives of serving healthy meals in
school cafeterias, improving pupil nutrition, and providing
agriculture, health, and nutrition educational opportunities.
(b)
(c) 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.
Public Health. 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)
(d) The secretary shall use existing resources to
comply with this section.
(d)
(e) The State Department of Education and the State
Department of Public Health Care Services
shall use existing resources to comply with subdivision
(b). (c).
591. (a) An eligible school district or county office of
education may apply on behalf of an elementary schoolsite
to the secretary, department, in a
manner determined by the secretary, for a grant to develop and
maintain a Farm farm to School
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: serves
pupils in prekindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 to 6,
inclusive, and the school district or county office of education has
an average of at least 65 percent of pupils who are eligible to
receive free or reduced-price meals.
(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)
(2) The intended items of expenditure for the funds
received. received, the overall cost of the
items, and other sources of funding, if any.
(d) The application also shall include an explanation of the
six-month reporting requirement specified in Section 593.
(3) A description of how the funds will be used to meet the
objectives of this article.
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.
(a) The maximum grant for any schoosite shall be five thousand
dollars ($5,000).
(b) No school district or county office of education shall be
awarded more than 10 percent of overall funds unless the secretary
determines there is insufficient demand from other county offices of
education or school districts.
(c) Funds may be used only for the following purposes:
(1) The development of salad bars.
(2) Staff training related to the preparation of fresh foods.
(3) Food literacy education, including, but not limited to,
through farms and gardens.
(4) Kitchen equipment related to the preparation of fresh foods.
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) (c) 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. funds.
(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.