BILL ANALYSIS Ó
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THIRD READING
Bill No: AB 2413
Author: John A. Pérez (D), et al.
Amended: 8/19/14 in Senate
Vote: 21
SENATE AGRICULTURE COMMITTEE : 5-0, 6/17/14
AYES: Galgiani, Cannella, Berryhill, Lieu, Wolk
SENATE APPROPRIATIONS COMMITTEE : 5-0, 8/14/14
AYES: De León, Hill, Lara, Padilla, Steinberg
NO VOTE RECORDED: Walters, Gaines
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14 - See last page for vote
SUBJECT : The Office of Farm to Fork
SOURCE : Author
DIGEST : This bill creates the Office of Farm to Fork (OFF)
within the Department of Food and Agriculture (DFA) and requires
OFF, to the extent that resources are available, to work with
various entities, to increase the amount of agricultural
products available to underserved communities and schools in the
state. This bill creates the Farm to Fork Account (Account) in
the DFA Fund that will consist of money made available from
federal, state, industry, and other sources, and continuously
appropriate money deposited in the Account to carry out the
purposes of OFF. This bill also, until January 1, 2020,
requires the DFA, to submit to the Legislature an overview of
the Account's income and expenditures if specified conditions
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exist.
ANALYSIS :
Existing law:
1.Establishes the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative
(CHFFI) for the purpose of promoting healthy food access to
underserved communities. The CHFFI Council is required to
develop program parameters and financing options to accomplish
this goal.
2.Directs DFA to develop recommendations for actions to be taken
to promote food access. In a 2012 report, recommendations
included improving the distribution of fresh produce,
expanding retail options for healthy food, helping low-income
consumers purchase food, and supporting nutritious school
meals. According to this report, the state can use existing
infrastructure and relationships with farmers and food
distributors to increase food access, and the state can
coordinate existing state and federal resources to target them
toward use in underserved communities.
This bill:
1.States findings and declarations regarding access of healthy
food for disadvantaged urban and rural communities, the
prevalence of chronic health conditions related to poor diets
in these communities, the current organizations seeking to
resolve this problem, and the acknowledgment that DFA is
uniquely situated to address this issue on a statewide level.
2.Creates OFF within DFA and requires OFF, to the extent
resources are available, to work with the agricultural
industry, direct marketing organizations, food policy
councils, public health groups, nonprofit and philanthropic
organizations, academic institutions, district agricultural
associations, government agencies, and other organizations
involved in promoting food access.
3.Requires OFF to do all of the following:
A. Work with stakeholders to identify urban and rural
communities that lack access to healthy food, determine
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current barriers, and share information to encourage best
practices.
B. Coordinate with governmental agencies to increase
awareness of programs promoting greater food access.
C. Promote retail sale of healthy foods in underserved
communities, including promoting the use of CalFresh and
Women, Infants, and Children benefits at farmers' markets,
supporting urban agriculture, and increasing the quantity
and quality of retail food stores.
D. Foster partnerships among community partners.
E. Identify distribution barriers that affect food access
and overcome those barriers by encouraging food hubs,
coordinating institutional food-buying practices, and
increasing access to resources such as the CHFFI.
F. Identify opportunities and provide assistance for
collaboration between farmers and food banks or other
nonprofit organizations to distribute agricultural products
to reduce hunger and increase access to healthy foods.
G. Identify opportunities to collaborate with community
organizations to provide cooking and nutrition classes to
underserved residents.
H. Coordinate with school districts to encourage best
purchasing practices, increase nutrition in schools, and
increase access to nutrition education.
1.Creates the Account within the DFA Fund that shall consist of
monies made available from federal, state, industry,
philanthropic, and private sources, and be appropriated
continuously without regard to fiscal year to carry out
purposes of the above provisions.
2.Requires, until January 1, 2020, DFA in any year in which
funds are received into or expanded from the Account, to
submit to the Legislature an overview of the Account's income
and expenditures.
Background
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The concept of "farm to fork" is gaining nationwide interest as
a means to bring fresh, healthy foods from the farm directly to
consumers, restaurants, food banks, farmers' markets, and other
retail food outlets. A broad and loosely defined term, the
overarching purpose of the farm-to-fork movement is to connect
consumers and farmers, create infrastructure for food
distribution, and improve food access.
Prior legislation . AB 581 (Pérez, Chapter 505, Statutes of
2011) creates the CHFFI for the purpose of promoting healthy
food access to underserved communities.
FISCAL EFFECT : Appropriation: Yes Fiscal Com.: Yes
Local: No
According to the Senate Appropriations Committee, DFA currently
operates a farm to fork program via an interagency agreement
with two other state departments. However, the duties of OFF,
as prescribed in this bill, could potentially result in workload
and subsequent costs that exceed the current value of the
contract by a potentially several hundred thousands of dollars
(special fund, see Staff Comments). Costs to DFA to create a
new account within the Food and Agriculture Fund would be minor
and absorbable.
SUPPORT : (Verified 8/19/14)
American Academy of Pediatrics, California
Association of California Healthcare Districts
Rural County Representatives of California
ARGUMENTS IN SUPPORT : According to the author, this bill
"Creates the Office of Farm to Fork within the California
Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA) to work with various
entities including the agricultural industry, direct marketing
organizations, food policy councils, public health groups,
schools, district agricultural associations, county, state and
federal agencies and other organizations involved in promoting
food access in order to increase the amount of agricultural
products available to schools and underserved communities."
Current efforts are underway by a variety of public and private
entities to achieve the goal of increasing food access. It has
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been argued that DFA has the expertise, relationships, and
infrastructure to further these efforts through a collaborative
statewide program. According to the 2012 DFA report previously
referenced, "Government and private efforts to increase food
access are already underway at the federal, state, and local
levels. In order to harmonize these efforts and avoid
duplication, the state can take an active role in coordinating
efforts and sharing information among the various entities
working to increase food access. CHFFI can serve to facilitate
this coordination and make sure communities have partners at the
table and that they are connected to the appropriate funding
sources."
ASSEMBLY FLOOR : 75-0, 5/19/14
AYES: Achadjian, Alejo, Allen, Ammiano, Bigelow, Bloom,
Bocanegra, Bonilla, Bonta, Bradford, Brown, Buchanan, Ian
Calderon, Campos, Chau, Chávez, Chesbro, Conway, Cooley,
Dababneh, Dahle, Daly, Dickinson, Eggman, Fong, Fox, Frazier,
Beth Gaines, Garcia, Gatto, Gomez, Gonzalez, Gordon, Gorell,
Gray, Grove, Hagman, Hall, Harkey, Roger Hernández, Holden,
Jones, Jones-Sawyer, Levine, Linder, Logue, Lowenthal,
Maienschein, Medina, Melendez, Mullin, Muratsuchi, Olsen, Pan,
Patterson, Perea, John A. Pérez, V. Manuel Pérez, Quirk,
Quirk-Silva, Rendon, Ridley-Thomas, Rodriguez, Salas, Skinner,
Stone, Ting, Wagner, Waldron, Weber, Wieckowski, Wilk,
Williams, Yamada, Atkins
NO VOTE RECORDED: Donnelly, Mansoor, Nazarian, Nestande,
Vacancy
JL/AL:k 8/19/14 Senate Floor Analyses
SUPPORT/OPPOSITION: SEE ABOVE
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