BILL ANALYSIS
AB 2720
Page 1
Date of Hearing: May 19, 2010
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON APPROPRIATIONS
Felipe Fuentes, Chair
AB 2720 (John A. Perez and Bass) - As Amended: May 12, 2010
Policy Committee: AgricultureVote:6
- 0
Urgency: No State Mandated Local Program:
No Reimbursable:
SUMMARY
This bill requires the California Department of Food and
Agriculture (CDFA) and the California Department of Social
Services (DSS) to report to the Legislature by July 1, 2011, on
their recommendations regarding increasing food justice in the
state. Specifically, this bill:
1)Requires CDFA and DSS to report by July 1, 2011, regarding
actions needed to promote food justice in the state.
2)Requires CDFA and DSS to coordinate efforts to maximize
funding opportunities provided by the 2010 Healthy Food
Financing initiative.
3)Deletes the limitation on the number of counties that may
participate in the Healthy Foods Purchase Pilot Program.
4)Extends the sunset for the pilot from July 1, 2013 to July 1,
2015 due to delays in the implementation of the project.
5)Provides the Department of Public Health (DPH) with the
authority to award grants and in-kind support to eligible
nonprofit organizations to encourage the sale and consumption
of fresh fruits and vegetables including the Healthy Food
Purchase Pilot Project.
FISCAL EFFECT
1)Given the complexity of the report required by this
legislation, costs could exceed $150,000 GF.
AB 2720
Page 2
2)The Healthy Food Purchase Pilot Project is funded exclusively
using federal funding and private grants, therefore extending
the sunset on the pilot project has no fiscal impact on the
state.
COMMENTS
1)Purpose . This bill is intended to begin exploring strategies
for increasing access to fresh, healthy foods. In addition,
this bill provides necessary clean up language for the Healthy
Food Purchase Pilot Project, which should allow for the
implementation of the program.
2)Food Access . Public health experts are increasingly concerned
with the lack of access to healthy foods faced by many people
in both urban and rural areas. In trying to identify the
problem, policy makers have begun focusing on "food deserts,"
and a subset of those deserts, "food swamps."
a) Food Deserts . A food desert is a geographic area with
limited access to affordable, quality, and nutritious
foods. The 2008 Farm Bill required the United States
Department of Agriculture to study food deserts. Findings
from that study include:
i) Of all U.S. households, 2.3 million (2.2%), live
more than a mile from a supermarket and do not have
access to a vehicle. An additional 3.4 million households
(3.2%) live between one-half to 1 mile and do not have
access to a vehicle.
ii) Area-based measures of access show that 23.5 million
people live in low-income areas (areas where more than
40% of the population has an income at or below 200% of
federal poverty thresholds) that are more than 1 mile
from a supermarket or large grocery store. However, not
all of these 23.5 million people have low incomes. If
estimates are restricted to consider only low-income
people in low-income areas, then 11.5 million people,
(4.1% of the U.S. population) live in low-income areas
more than 1 mile from a supermarket.
iii) Data on time use and travel mode show that people
living in low-income areas with limited access spend
significantly more time (19.5 minutes) traveling to a
AB 2720
Page 3
grocery store than the national average (15 minutes).
However, 93% of those who live in low-income areas with
limited access traveled to the grocery store in a vehicle
they or another household member drove.
b) Food Swamps . A subset of food deserts are areas
increasingly referred to as "food swamps." A food swamp is
a defined geographic area where the overabundance of
high-energy foods (for example, caloric snacks sold at
convenience stores or high fat, high caloric foods sold at
fast food outlets) overwhelms the healthy food options.
3)Key Issues . The author and the Legislature may wish to
consider whether CDFA and DSS are the appropriate departments
to coordinate on any healthy food financing efforts. As
conducted in other states and envisioned by the federal
government, a healthy food financing initiative will establish
a public-private partnership that will provide funding to
assist in the development of supermarkets and fresh food
outlets in underserved rural and urban areas throughout the
state. Given, the nature of the program, it may be better
suited for the Department of Housing and Community
Development, the State Treasurer, and the Department of Public
Health.
The author and the Legislature may wish to consider whether a
food justice effort in the state should include strategies for
allowing people to access fresh, healthy food who cannot
afford to shop in grocery stores, regardless of their having
access to them. Along those lines, the Legislature may wish to
consider expanding current emergency food program efforts to
allow increased access to fresh foods, including the state's
existing Emergency Food Assistance Program and the California
Food Bank's Farm to Family efforts.
4)Related Legislation . AB 2384 (Leno; Chapter 236, Statutes of
2006) required the Department of Public Health to develop a
"Healthy Food Purchase" pilot program to increase the sale and
purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables in low-income
communities.
Analysis Prepared by : Julie Salley-Gray / APPR. / (916)
319-2081