AB 2602 Assembly Bill

BILL NUMBER: AB 2602	AMENDED
	BILL TEXT

	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 21, 2014
	AMENDED IN ASSEMBLY  APRIL 2, 2014

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

                        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 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 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  specified  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 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 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 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 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.
   (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.
   (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 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.
   (d) The secretary shall use existing resources to comply with this
section.
   (e) The State Department of Education and the State Department of
Public Health shall use existing resources to comply with subdivision
(c).
   591.  (a) An eligible school district or county office of
education may apply on behalf of an elementary schoolsite to the
department, 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
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.
   (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 intended items of expenditure for the funds received, the
overall cost of the items, and other sources of funding, if any.
   (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) The maximum grant for any  schoosite  
schoolsite  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 (c) of
Section 590, in a manner prescribed by the secretary, regarding the
use of  the expended  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.