BILL ANALYSIS Ó
AB 2635
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Date of Hearing: April 13, 2016
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Bill Dodd, Chair
AB 2635
(Committee on Agriculture) - As Introduced February 19, 2016
SUBJECT: Public health: food access.
SUMMARY: This bill extends the California Healthy Food
Financing Initiative (CHFFI) to July 1, 2023. CHFFI currently
will cease operation as of July 1, 2017.
EXISTING LAW:
1)Creates CHFFI.
2)Establishes the CHFFI Council (Council) and requires the
Council to implement the initiative.
3)Allows the Secretary of the Department of Food and Agriculture
(CDFA) to establish an advisory group.
4)Creates the CHFFI Fund in the State Treasury, comprised of
federal, state, philanthropic, and private funds, for the
purpose of expanding access to healthy foods in underserved
communities and, to the extent practicable, to leverage other
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funding.
FISCAL EFFECT: Unknown.
COMMENTS: Although there are several definitions for the term
"food desert" there is a common theme: a large geographic area
with no or distant access to affordable, quality, and healthy
foods. Food deserts exist in both urban and rural communities
throughout California.
Residents in food desert areas do not have access to a selection
of healthy foods, such as fruits, vegetables or dairy products.
As a result, research shows that residents of these geographic
areas generally have higher incidences of certain types of
diseases, including diabetes, cancer, obesity, heart disease,
and premature death.
The Healthy Food Financing Initiative (HFFI) was included in
President Obama's FY 2011 budget and FY 2012 budget proposal.
The HFFI is a partnership between the U.S. Departments of
Agriculture, Health and Human Services, and Treasury, to invest
$340 million nationwide with the goal of eliminating food
deserts across the country within seven years through innovative
financing, grants and private sector engagement.
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CHFFI is intended to increase access to healthy and nutritious
foods. The law is mirrored after successful HFFI Programs in
the states of Pennsylvania and New York and addresses the issue
by encouraging the active pursuit of opportunities to increase
the number of grocery stores, farm stands, farmers' markets,
direct farm to institutions and consumer markets, and community
gardens in underserved urban and rural communities.
CDFA published Improving Food Access in California in 2012 which
made recommendations to improve food access that fit broadly
into four categories and rely heavily upon resources and
capabilities that already exist here in California or are
obtainable at the federal level:
1)Improving the Distribution of Fresh Produce
2)Expanding Retail Options for Healthy Food
3)Helping Low-Income Consumers Purchase Food
4)Supporting Nutritious School Meals
To date the State has not appropriated any funds to CHHFFI. For
the program to have a significant impact it will need state
funding in the future. CHFFI has not yet had the ability to
achieve its goals. By extending CHFFI, the program may be able
to impact food access issues.
RELATED LEGISLATION:
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AB 38 (Perez) of 2013 would have created the Office of Farm to
Fork (OF2F) within CDFA to work with various groups and
organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the
amount of agricultural products available to schools and
underserved communities in the state. AB 38 died in the
Assembly Appropriations committee.
AB 224 (Gordon), Chapter 404, Statutes of 2013, created
definitions dealing with requirements for Consumer Supported
Agriculture and authorized CDFA to establish fees, not to exceed
$100, to administer this new program as specified.
AB 996 (Dickinson) of 2013 would have recast and expanded
Certified Farmers' Market laws, requirements, and fees; and,
increased penalties for violations to prevent fraud. AB 996
died in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
AB 1871 (Dickinson), Chapter 579, Statutes of 2014, established
a specific inspection and enforcement fee, increased the amount
of the daily stall fee, and broadened the pool of payers to
include those that participate in adjacent non-agricultural
markets.
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AB 1990 (Gordon), Chapter 580, Statutes of 2014, created
definitions for "community food producer" (CFP), as specified,
in order to establish a CFP as an "approved [food] source" to
sell or provide specified food products directly to the public
and other specified users; and, provided for enforcement and due
process procedures.
AB 2385 (Ting) of 2014 would have created the Market Match
Nutrition Incentive Program (MMNIP) for encouraging the purchase
and consumption of fresh California fruits, nuts, and vegetables
by directly linking producers with certain benefit recipients;
created the MMNIP account within CDFA to collect funds from the
federal Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentives Grant Program (a
part of the federal Agricultural Act of 2014) and provided
grants under MMNIP. AB 2385 died in the Assembly Appropriations
Committee.
AB 2413 (Perez), Chapter 583, Statutes of 2014, created the OF2F
within CDFA, both 1) to work with various entities involved in
promoting food access, and 2) to increase the amount of
agricultural products available to schools and underserved
communities in the state of California.
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AB 2602 (Eggman) of 2014, would have established a farm to
school program with the goal of increasing access to food grown
by local farmers going to school lunches. AB 2602 died in the
Assembly Appropriations Committee.
AB 1321 (Ting), Chapter 442, Statutes of 2015, established the
Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant (NIMG) Program in the OF2F,
created a NIMG account and required OF2F to establish minimum
standards, funding schedules and grant procedures for the NIMG
program. This bill directs OF2F to solicit grant proposals,
score, and award grant funds as specified, and established
standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants
in consultation with the United States Department of
Agriculture. This bill also established standards for
prioritizing grants within the state.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:
Support
California Food Policy Advocates
Opposition
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None on file.
Analysis Prepared by:Victor Francovich / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084