AB 1321, as introduced, Ting. Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program.
Existing law establishes the Office of Farm to Fork within the Department of Food and Agriculture, and requires the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, including, among others, the agricultural industry and other organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. Existing law requires the office to, among other things, identify urban and rural communities that lack access to healthy food, and to coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies to promote and increase awareness of programs that promote greater food access. Existing law creates the Farm to Fork Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund that would consist of money made available from federal, state, industry, and other sources, and would continuously appropriate the money deposited in the account without regard to fiscal years to carry out the purposes of the Office of Farm to Fork.
This bill would establish the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program in the Office of Farm to Fork, and would create the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account in the Farm to Fork Account to collect matching funds received from a specified federal grant program and funds from other public and private sources to provide grants under the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program and to administer the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program. The bill would require that moneys in the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account be awarded in the form of grants to qualified entities, as defined, for consumer incentive programs, as defined, subject to an appropriation in the annual Budget Act and in accordance with certain priorities. The bill would require the Office of Farm to Fork to establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants, as specified.
Vote: majority. Appropriation: no. Fiscal committee: yes. State-mandated local program: no.
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 49010)
2is added to Division 17 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:
3
This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
8California Nutrition Incentives Act.
The Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program is
10hereby established in the Office of Farm to Fork for purposes of
11encouraging the purchase and consumption of California fresh
12fruits, nuts, and vegetables by directly linking California fresh
13fruit, nut, and vegetable producers with nutrition benefit clients.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions
15shall apply:
16(a) “Nutrition benefit client” means a person who receives
17services or payments through any of the following:
18(1) California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women,
19Infants, and Children, as described in Section 123280 of the Health
20and Safety Code.
P3 1(2) CalWORKS program, as described in Chapter 2
2(commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the
3Welfare and Institutions Code.
4(3) CalFresh, as described in Section 18900.2 of the Welfare
5and Institutions Code.
6(4) Implementation of the federal WIC Farmers’ Market
7Nutrition Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-314).
8(5) The Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, as described
9in Section 3007 of Title 7 of the United States Code.
10(6) Supplemental Security Income or State Supplementary
11Payment, as described in Section 1381 et seq. of Title 42 of the
12United States Code.
13(b) “Qualified entity,” for purposes of this article, means either
14of the following:
15(1) A certified farmers’ market, as described in Section 47004,
16an association of certified producers, or a nonprofit organization
17representing a collective or association of certified producers that
18is authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture
to
19accept federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Chapter
2051 (commencing with Section 2011) of Title 7 of the United States
21Code) benefits from recipient purchasers at a farmers’ market.
22Certified producers shall be certified by the county agricultural
23commissioner pursuant to Section 47020.
24(2) A small business, as defined in Section 14837 of the
25Government Code, that sells California grown fresh fruits, nuts,
26and vegetables and that is authorized to accept nutrition benefits
27from any of the programs listed in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive,
28of subdivision (a).
29(c) “Consumer incentive program” means a program
30administered by a qualified entity that doubles the purchasing value
31of a nutrition benefit client’s benefits when the benefits are used
32to purchase California fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables.
The Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account is
34hereby created in the Farm to Fork Account to collect matching
35funds from the federal Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives Grant
36Program (7 U.S.C. Sec. 7517), and other public and private sources,
37to provide grants under the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant
38Program and to administer the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant
39Program in accordance with all of the following:
P4 1(a) Subject to the regulations adopted by the National Institute
2of Food and Agriculture in the United States Department of
3Agriculture in accordance with the federal Agricultural Act of
42014 (Public Law 113-79) and an appropriation in the annual
5Budget Act, moneys in the Nutrition Incentive Matching Account
6shall be awarded in the form of grants to
qualified entities for
7consumer incentive programs.
8(b) (1) The Office of Farm to Fork shall establish minimum
9standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants
10in consultation with the United States Department of Agriculture
11and other interested stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the
12State Department of Public Health, State Department of Social
13Services, organizations with expertise in nutrition benefit programs
14or consumer incentive programs, small business owners that may
15qualify as a qualified entity, and certified farmers’ market
16operators.
17(2) The department shall not use more than one-third of the
18Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program funds for consumer
19incentive programs with entities described in paragraph (2) of
20subdivision (b) of Section 49012.
21(c) Priority in the awarding of grants by the department to
22qualified entities shall be based on, but not limited to, the
23following:
24(1) The degree of the existence of the following demographic
25conditions and the character of the communities in which sales of
26California grown fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables are made to the
27public by authorized vendors operating in conjunction with a
28qualified entity:
29(A) The number of people who are eligible for, or receiving,
30nutrition benefit program services.
31(B) The prevalence of diabetes, obesity, and other diet-related
32illnesses.
33(C) The availability of access to fresh fruits, nuts, and
34vegetables.
35(2) Demonstrated efficiency in the
administration of a consumer
36incentive program.
37(3) The service of an area of population currently not being
38served by a consumer incentive program.
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