Amended in Assembly April 2, 2014

California Legislature—2013–14 Regular Session

Assembly Bill No. 2602

Introduced by Assembly Member Eggman

(Principal coauthors: Assembly Members Garcia, Gonzalez, and Quirk-Silva)

February 21, 2014

An act to add Article 10 (commencing with Section 590) to Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to the Farm to School Program.

LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL’S DIGEST

AB 2602, as amended, Eggman. Farm to School Program.

Existing law requires the State Department of Education to ensure that the nutrition levels of meals served to schoolage children pursuant to the federal National School Lunch Act be of the highest quality and greatest nutritional value possible.

This bill would establish the Farm to School begin delete Program, to be administered by end delete begin insert Program within end insert the Department of Food and Agriculture, to provide for the allocation of grants and technical assistance to school districts and county offices of education for begin delete the purpose of increasing the provision of fresh and nutritious school meals to pupils. end delete begin insert specified purposes, including serving healthy meals in school cafeterias. end insert The bill would authorize the Secretary of Food and Agriculture to distribute grants begin insert of up to $5,000 per schoolsite end insert to eligible school districts and county offices of education for begin delete the purpose of developing and maintaining a Farm to School program, and would authorize grants of up to $2,500 for a schoolsite with less than 1,000 enrolled pupils, and, for schoolsites with 1,000 or more enrolled pupils, would authorize grants of up to $5,000 per schoolsite. end delete begin insert purposes including, among others, food literacy education. end insert The bill would require a school district or county office of education that receives a grant pursuant to those provisions to comply with specified reporting requirements. The bill would require the secretary to convene an interagency working group on increasing the provision of fresh and nutritious school meals to pupils that includes representatives of the Department of Food and Agriculture, the State Department of Education, and the State Department of begin delete Health Care Services. end delete begin insert Public Health. end insert The bill would make the implementation of the Farm to School Program contingent upon appropriation by the Legislature for those purposes.

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) The lack of access to nutritious food has led to a rise in
obesity among children, which now affects one out of every three
children in the United States. Obesity can lead to a variety of health
problems, such as type II diabetes, high blood pressure, and
elevated cholesterol levels. Farm to School programs could increase
access to begin delete fresh local end delete begin insert California grown end insert vegetables and fruits,
specifically in urban, low-income, and rural communities.

(b) In 2013, federal nutritional standards for foods sold in
schools were updated to comply with the improved nutritional
standards of the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010.
In California, 89.1 percent of schools are meeting these new meal
standards. However, California schools are still facing obstacles
in providing healthy meals to pupils, including a lack of adequate
kitchen supplies.

(c) Farm to School program funding begin delete could end delete begin insert will end insert provide school
districts with the opportunity to update their kitchen supplies to
meet new federal begin insert nutritional end insert guidelines, begin insert increase staff training
related to the preparation of fresh foods, educate pupils on
nutrition, end insert and prepare a greater amount and variety of fruits and
vegetables.

SEC. 2.  

Article 10 (commencing with Section 590) is added
to Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division 1 of the Food and Agricultural
Code, to read:

 

Article 10.  Farm to School Program

 

590.  

(a) The Farm to School Program is hereby established
begin insert within the department end insert for the purpose of begin delete increasing the provision
of fresh and nutritious school meals to pupils end delete begin insert promoting the
objectives specified in subdivision (b) end insert through the allocation of
grants and the provision of technical assistance to school districts
and county offices of education. begin delete The program shall be administered
by the department. end delete

begin insert

(b) “Farm to school program” means a program that connects
schools and California farms with the objectives of serving healthy
meals in school cafeterias, improving pupil nutrition, and providing
agriculture, health, and nutrition educational opportunities.

end insert begin delete

(b)

end delete

begin insert (c) end insert  The secretary shall convene an interagency working group
on increasing the provision of fresh and nutritious school meals
to pupils that includes, but is not limited to, representatives of the
Department of Food and Agriculture, the State Department of
Education, and the State Department of begin delete Health Care Services. end delete
begin insert Public Health. end insert The working group shall advise the secretary on
all of the following:

(1) Effective and efficient means of encouraging school districts
and county offices of education to develop a farm to school
program.

(2) The availability of state and nonstate resources and technical
assistance to help school districts and county offices of education
in establishing and maintaining farm to school programs.

begin delete

(c)

end delete

begin insert (d) end insert  The secretary shall use existing resources to comply with
this section.

begin delete

(d)

end delete

begin insert (e) end insert  The State Department of Education and the State Department
of begin insert Public end insert Health begin delete Care Services end delete shall use existing resources to
comply with subdivision begin delete (b). end delete begin insert (c). end insert

591.  

(a) An eligible school district or county office of
education may apply begin insert on behalf of an elementary schoolsite end insert to the
begin delete secretary, end delete begin insert department, end insert in a manner determined by the secretary,
for a grant to develop and maintain a begin delete Farm end delete begin insert farm end insert to begin delete School end delete begin insert school end insert
program under this article.

(b) A school district or county office of education is eligible to
apply for the grant if the schoolsite to which the funds will go
begin delete meets one of the following criteria: end delete begin insert serves pupils in
prekindergarten, kindergarten, or any of grades 1 to 6, inclusive,
and the school district or county office of education has an average
of at least 65 percent of pupils who are eligible to receive free or
reduced-price meals. end insert

begin delete

(1) The median household income for the schoolsite is 200
percent or less of the federal poverty guidelines.

end delete begin delete

(2) The schoolsite is located in an area of high unemployment.

end delete

(c) The application, at a minimum, shall include, but is not
limited to, the following information:

(1) The identity of each school at which a farm to school
program is to be located.

begin delete

(2) The grade level or grade levels to be targeted.

end delete begin delete

(3) The number of pupils who would use the Farm to School
program.

end delete begin delete

(4) The proposed menu changes for each participating school.

end delete begin delete

(5)

end delete

begin insert (2) end insert  The intended items of expenditure for the funds begin delete received. end delete
begin insert received, the overall cost of the items, and other sources of funding,
if any. end insert

begin delete

(d) The application also shall include an explanation of the
six-month reporting requirement specified in Section 593.

end delete begin insert

(3) A description of how the funds will be used to meet the
objectives of this article.

end insert

592.  

The secretary shall distribute the grants awarded to eligible
school districts or county offices of education in accordance with
the following:

begin delete

(a) For a schoolsite with an enrollment of less than 1,000 pupils,
the grant shall be no more than two thousand five hundred dollars
($2,500) per schoolsite.

end delete begin delete

(b) For a schoolsite with an enrollment of 1,000 or more pupils,
the grant shall be no more than five thousand dollars ($5,000) per
schoolsite.

end delete begin insert

(a) The maximum grant for any schoosite shall be five thousand
dollars ($5,000).

end insert begin insert

(b) No school district or county office of education shall be
awarded more than 10 percent of overall funds unless the secretary
determines there is insufficient demand from other county offices
of education or school districts.

end insert begin insert

(c) Funds may be used only for the following purposes:

end insert begin insert

(1) The development of salad bars.

end insert begin insert

(2) Staff training related to the preparation of fresh foods.

end insert begin insert

(3) Food literacy education, including, but not limited to,
through farms and gardens.

end insert begin insert

(4) Kitchen equipment related to the preparation of fresh foods.

end insert

593.  

(a) As a condition of the receipt of funds pursuant to this
article, within six months of the final expenditure of funds received
pursuant to this article, a school district or county office of
education shall report to the secretary, in conjunction with the
interagency working group convened pursuant to subdivision begin delete (b) end delete
begin insert (c) end insert of Section 590, in a manner prescribed by the secretary,
regarding the use of begin delete funds, including how the funds were used to
improve access to fresh and nutritious meals served by the
participating school or schools. end delete begin insert funds. end insert

(b) A school district or county office of education may submit
one report for all of the schools that have received grants that are
under the jurisdiction of the school district or county office of
education.

594.  

The implementation of the provisions of this article is
contingent upon appropriation of funds by the Legislature for those
purposes.