BILL ANALYSIS �
AB 1990
Page 1
Date of Hearing: April 9, 2014
ASSEMBLY COMMITTEE ON AGRICULTURE
Susan Talamantes Eggman, Chair
AB 1990 (Gordon) - As Amended: April 2, 2014
SUBJECT : Community food production.
SUMMARY : Creates definitions for "community food producer," as
specified, in order to establish them as an "approved [food]
source" to sell or provide specified food products directly to
the public and other specified users; and, provides for
enforcement and due process procedures. Specifically, this
bill :
1)Defines "community food producer" (CFP) as a producer of
agricultural products on land that is compliant with local
land use, as specified, that is not land zoned for
agricultural use.
2)Adds CFP to the list of entities not considered a food
facility under the cottage food law.
3)Defines "gleaner" as a person that legally gathers or harvests
an agricultural crop, as specified, made available by that
agricultural crop's owner.
4)Permits a CFP, unless a local ordinance prohibits such
activity, to sell or provide whole uncut fruits or vegetables
or unrefrigerated eggs directly to the public, permitted
restaurant or cottage food operator if they meet all the
following criteria:
a) Requires agricultural products be grown or produced in
compliance with Health and Safety Code defining an
"approved source" which includes meeting food safety
guidelines issued by a regulatory agency;
b) Requires agricultural products to be labeled with the
name and address of the CFP; and,
c) Requires "conspicuous signage" be provided in lieu of
product labeling if the CFP is selling at the site of
production.
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5)Permits a public health enforcement officer (PHEO) to enter
and inspect a CFP's operation in response to a food recall or
food safety compliant. Allows the PHEO to recover reasonable
costs from the CFP for the inspection.
6)Permits a PHEO to issue to a CFP a cease and desist order for
violations of this chapter, prohibiting further sales until
the CFP and its operations have been cleared by the PHEO's
agency.
7)Permits a CFP, upon receiving a cease and desist order, 15
days to request a hearing before a hearing officer; failure to
request such a hearing, as specified, is deemed a waiver to
the CFP's right to a hearing.
8)Establishes that violations of this chapter are a misdemeanor;
each offense shall be punished by a fine of not less than $25
or more than $1,000 or by imprisonment in the county jail for
a term not exceeding six months, or by both fine and
imprisonment.
EXISTING LAW establishes the California Retail Food Code (CRFC),
with uniform health and sanitation standards for retail food
facilities and provides for the enforcement of those standards
by local health agencies and by the State Department of Public
Health, as specified; requires farm stands, as defined, to
comply with specified requirements governing food safety and
sanitation; and, makes a violation of the code a crime.
FISCAL EFFECT : Unknown. Legislative Counsel has keyed this
bill fiscal.
COMMENTS : The movement of reducing greenhouse gas but reducing
transportation of products, especially food stuffs, has placed
the focus on supplying more food items locally. Additionally,
the belief that fresher foods provide more flavors and are
healthier has fueled the desire for local foods. "Growing
Cities" is a recent documentary film released in 2013 at film
festivals, which examines the role of urban farming in America
and asks how much power it has to revitalize our cities and
change the way we eat. AB 1990 tries to address this issue at
the most local level.
According to the author, AB 1990 attempts to resolve the
uncertainty by local agencies regarding the direct sale of food
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products from various types of garden properties, without the
expressed authorization of their local health enforcement
agency, and to provide statewide guidance for oversight for the
wide range and scope of such operations. This bill does provide
definitions to identify CFP and their properties as an approved
source of food, and authorizes the sale of their products to the
public. It also provides for PHEOs to act upon an occurrence of
a food safety incident.
AB 1990 would provide a statewide approach in providing
oversight of CFPs, while reducing the demands on local
governments to adopt individual ordinances. There are some
local jurisdictions that have adopted local ordinances in order
to establish requirements over the selling of CFPs. The selling
of CFPs is a practice that apparently is currently occurring and
increasing within the state. There may be a need for a
statewide approach to CFPs activities.
Conventional and organic farms have many requirements on them in
order to produce food for the public. They are restricted in
how they use pesticides and fertilizers, and have reporting
requirements. They cannot use products except in accordance
with label instructions, some of which have re-entry
restrictions or waiting periods before harvest. The only
oversight CFP would have is in response to a food safety recall
or complaint. The urban use of pesticides and fertilizers has
been identified in water runoff due to overuse or due to use not
in accordance with label instructions. The committee may wish
to consider if more oversight should be required for CFPs since
their food products would be entering the public food system.
AB 1990 creates a new standard for public food requirements than
what currently exists.
Tracking food borne illnesses is a difficult task for PHEO,
especially if food products do not carry a label containing
their origins. AB 1990 provides that in lieu of a label, if the
product is sold at the site of production, "conspicuous signage"
is required. While it is implied that such signage would have
the name and address, it is not stated. The committee may wish
to describe what should be included in the "conspicuous signage"
(page 5, lines 19-21).
Further, it may be helpful for PHEOs to be aware of those who
are selling or distributing food within their jurisdictions in
order to speed-up any trace backs for food borne illnesses. The
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committee may wish to require a local registration with Public
Health Departments in order to expedite origins of illnesses.
A technical amendment is needed on page 5, line 31, changing the
word "offer" to "officer."
RELATED LEGISLATION : AB 1252 (Health Committee), Chapter 556,
Statutes of 2013, made various technical, clarifying, and
conforming changes to the CRFC, the state's principal law
governing food safety and sanitation in retail food facilities,
and made changes necessary to implement California's cottage
food operations law.
AB 551 (Ting), Chapter 406, Statutes of 2013, authorized a city
or county, after a public hearing, to establish by ordinance, a
Zone within its boundaries for the purpose of entering into
voluntary enforceable contracts with landowners, for the use of
vacant, unimproved, or blighted lands for small-scale production
of agriculture crops and animal husbandry.
AB 224 (Gordon), Chapter 404, Statutes of 2013, defined
community-supported agriculture (CSA) within the direct
marketing program regulated by CDFA; established regulatory
parameters and required CSA registration fees to fund
administration and related programmatic costs, as specified;
and, required CDFA to file an order to adopt, amend, or repeal
regulations relating to the fee.
AB 1616 (Gatto), Chapter 415, Statutes of 2012, defined the
production and sale of certain non-potentially hazardous foods
prepared in a home kitchens as a cottage food operation (CFO);
required CFOs to be registered or permitted; exempted CFOs from
the CRFC; excluded CFOs from specified food processing
establishments and Sherman Law requirements; required CFOs to
meet specified requirements relating to training, sanitation,
preparation, labeling, and permissible types of sales, and be
subject to inspections under specified circumstances; and, made
related requirements.
AB 2168 (Jones), Chapter 447, Statutes of 2008, expanded the
definition of direct marketing to include farm stands, field
retail stands, and other forms of direct marketing, revised
related definitions, and authorized CDFA to adopt regulations to
regulate direct marketing, as specified.
AB 1990
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AB 593 (Strom-Martin), Chapter 833, Statutes of 1999, codified
regulations exempting direct marketers from specified packing
and labeling standards, amended fee structures, and authorized
farmers' markets to establish rules and procedures.
REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION :
Support
California Association of Environmental Health Administrators
(Sponsor)
California Association for Micro Enterprise Opportunity
Community Alliance with Family Famers
Opposition
None on file.
Analysis Prepared by : Jim Collin / AGRI. / (916) 319-2084