Amended in Senate August 31, 2015

Amended in Senate July 1, 2015

Amended in Assembly June 1, 2015

California Legislature—2015–16 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 1321

Introduced by Assembly Member Ting

(Principal coauthor: Assembly Member Bonta)

(Principal coauthor: Senator Wolk)

(Coauthors: Assembly Members Cristina Garcia, Levine, Perea, and Rodriguez)

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(Coauthors: Senators Hancock and Mitchell)

February 27, 2015

An act to add Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 49010) to Division 17 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to food and agriculture.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 1321, as amended, 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.

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 Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to collect matching funds received from a specified federal grant program and funds from other public and private sources, to encourage the purchase and consumption of California fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables by nutrition benefit clients, as defined. The bill would provide that the program shall only begin delete become operative end delete begin insert provide grants end insert upon the deposit of sufficient funds begin insert , as specified, end insert into the account. 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 specified regulations 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:

SECTION 1.  

The Legislature finds and declares all of the
following:

(a) Scaling up the Market Match program throughout the state
would be beneficial to the health of local economies and the state
economy while simultaneously improving the health of the most
vulnerable families throughout California.

(b) Since its inception in 2009, the Market Match program has
encouraged the purchase and consumption of California fresh
fruits, nuts, and vegetables by directly linking California specialty
crop producers with nutrition benefit clients and doubling the
purchasing value of the nutrition assistance received by nutrition
benefit clients when purchasing California fresh fruits, nuts, and
vegetables.

(c) Market Match dollars provide incentives for new consumers
to visit local farmers’ markets and purchase healthy produce,
benefiting both their health and the health of local economies.

(d) The Market Match program has acted as an economic
stimulus to local agricultural economies throughout the state by
increasing the number of loyal customers and their purchasing
power, including in food deserts where California fresh fruits, nuts,
and vegetables are scarce.

(e) Data shows that between 2009 and 2012, the Market Match
program increased CalFresh redemption amongst 37,000 new
farmers’ market customers at 140 participating farmers’ markets
in over 16 counties, from 132 percent to 700 percent.

(f) Data shows that Market Match dollars have had a six-fold
return on investment in farmers’ market sales.

(g) The Pacific Coast Farmers’ Market Association’s business
analysis of returns on investment (ROI) for Market Match programs
in 2012 held in various areas and cities shows the following rates
of ROI throughout the state:

(1) East Bay and San Francisco: 132 percent ROI.

(2) Long Beach: 257 percent ROI.

(3) Huntington Park: 403 percent ROI.

(4) Davis: 390 percent ROI.

(5) Woodland: 576 percent ROI.

(6) Monterey: 717 percent ROI.

(h) The enactment of the 2014 federal Farm Bill includes $100
million in grants to states for programs that supplement nutrition
benefits if they incentivize healthier eating by beneficiaries.

(i) The first round of grants awarded in 2015 proves that a
statewide framework is an effective way to draw down these federal
funds. The State of Washington was the largest first-round grant
recipient, awarded almost $6 million to help low-income families
afford fresh produce. California must act now and tap into this
federal funding before it is too late.

(j) Creation of a statewide Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant
Program modeled after the successful experience of the Market
Match program would help draw down federal funds to further
maximize access to fresh healthy foods and stimulate local
economies in a more equitable cross-section of communities.

SEC. 2.  

Chapter 13 (commencing with Section 49010) is added
to Division 17 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:

 

Chapter  13. Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant
Program

 

49010.  

This chapter shall be known, and may be cited, as the
California Nutrition Incentives Act.

49011.  

The Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program is
hereby established in the Office of Farm to Fork for purposes of
encouraging the purchase and consumption of California fresh
fruits, nuts, and vegetables by directly linking California fresh
fruit, nut, and vegetable producers with nutrition benefit clients.

49012.  

For purposes of this chapter, the following definitions
shall apply:

(a) “Consumer incentive program” means a program
administered by a qualified entity that begin delete doubles end delete begin insert increases end insert the
purchasing value of a nutrition benefit client’s benefits when the
benefits are used to purchase California fresh fruits, nuts, and
vegetables.

(b) “Nutrition benefit client” means a person who receives
services or payments through any of the following:

(1) California Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for
Women, Infants, and Children, as described in Section 123280 of
the Health and Safety Code.

(2) CalWORKS program, as described in Chapter 2
(commencing with Section 11200) of Part 3 of Division 9 of the
Welfare and Institutions Code.

(3) CalFresh, as described in Section 18900.2 of the Welfare
and Institutions Code.

(4) Implementation of the federal WIC Farmers’ Market
Nutrition Act of 1992 (Public Law 102-314).

(5) The Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program, as described
in Section 3007 of Title 7 of the United States Code.

(6) Supplemental Security Income or State Supplementary
Payment, as described in Section 1381 and following of Title 42
of the United States Code.

(c) “Qualified entity” means either of the following:

(1) A certified farmers’ market, as described in Section 47004,
an association of certified producers, or a nonprofit organization
representing a collective or association of certified producers that
is authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture to
accept federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (Chapter
51 (commencing with Section 2011) of Title 7 of the United States
Code) benefits from recipient purchasers at a farmers’ market.
Certified producers shall be certified by the county agricultural
commissioner pursuant to Section 47020.

(2) A small business, as defined in Section 14837 of the
Government Code, that sells California grown fresh fruits, nuts,
and vegetables and that is authorized to accept nutrition benefits
from any of the programs listed in paragraphs (1) to (6), inclusive,
of subdivision (b).

49013.  

The Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account is
hereby created in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund
to collect matching funds from the federal Food Insecurity
Nutrition Incentive Grant Program (7 U.S.C. Sec. 7517), and other
public and private sources, to provide grants under the Nutrition
Incentive Matching Grant Program. The Nutrition Incentive
Matching Grant Program shall only begin delete become operative end delete begin insert provide
grants end insert upon the deposit of sufficient begin delete funds end delete begin insert funds, as specified in
its federal Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Grant Program
application, end insert into the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account.

49014.  

The Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program shall
be administered in accordance with all of the following:

(a) Subject to the regulations adopted by the National Institute
of Food and Agriculture in the United States Department of
Agriculture in accordance with the federal Agricultural Act of
2014 (Public Law 113-79), begin insert or any subsequent federal agricultural
act, end insert moneys in the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account
shall be awarded in the form of grants to qualified entities for
consumer incentive programs.

(b) (1) The Office of Farm to Fork shall establish minimum
standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants
in consultation with the United States Department of Agriculture
and other interested stakeholders, including, but not limited to, the
State Department of Public Health, State Department of Social
Services, organizations with expertise in nutrition benefit programs
or consumer incentive programs, small business owners that may
qualify as a qualified entity, and certified farmers’ market
operators.

(2) The department shall not use more than one-third of the
Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program funds for consumer
incentive programs with qualified entities described in paragraph
(2) of subdivision (c) of Section 49012.

(c) The department shall give priority in awarding grants to
qualified entities based on, but not limited to, the following:

(1) The service of an area of population currently not being
served by a consumer incentive program.

(2) The degree of the existence of the following demographic
conditions and the character of the communities in which sales of
California grown fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables are made to the
public by authorized vendors operating in conjunction with a
qualified entity:

(A) The number of people who are eligible for, or receiving,
nutrition benefit program services.

(B) The prevalence of diabetes, obesity, and other diet-related
illnesses.

(C) The availability of access to fresh fruits, nuts, and
vegetables.

(3) Demonstrated efficiency in the administration of a consumer
incentive program.