Bill Text: CA AB2500 | 2021-2022 | Regular Session | Amended
Bill Title: Farm to Hospital Grant Pilot Program.
Spectrum: Partisan Bill (Democrat 1-0)
Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2022-05-19 - In committee: Held under submission. [AB2500 Detail]
Download: California-2021-AB2500-Amended.html
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Amended
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Assembly
April 28, 2022 |
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Amended
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April 07, 2022 |
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Amended
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March 30, 2022 |
CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE—
2021–2022 REGULAR SESSION
Assembly Bill
No. 2500
| Introduced by Assembly Member Arambula |
February 17, 2022 |
An act to amend Section 49002 of, to add the heading of Article 1 (commencing with Section 49000) to, and to add and repeal Article 2 (commencing with Section 49005) of, Chapter 12 of Division 17 of, the Food and Agricultural Code, relating to food and agriculture.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
AB 2500, as amended, Arambula.
Farm to Hospital Grant Pilot Program.
Existing law creates the Office of Farm to Fork within the Department of Food and Agriculture, and requires the office, to the extent that resources are available, to work with various entities, as prescribed, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state.
This bill would, upon appropriation and until January 1, 2031, establish the Farm to Hospital Grant Pilot Program, which the office would administer, to award competitive grants to eligible applicants to provide hospital patients with meals prepared from California-sourced agricultural products and build direct relationships with California farmers and ranchers, as specified. The bill would require the office, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, to develop grant criteria to evaluate proposals from
eligible applicants. The bill would authorize grant recipients to use grant moneys only for specified purposes, and require them to report specified information to the office and State Department of Public Health. The bill would require the office, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, on or before January 1, 2027, to submit to the Legislature a report on the pilot program.
Digest Key
Vote: MAJORITY Appropriation: NO Fiscal Committee: YES Local Program: NOBill Text
The people of the State of California do enact as follows:
SECTION 1.
The heading of Article 1 (commencing with Section 49000) is added to Chapter 12 of Division 17 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:Article 1. General Provisions
SEC. 2.
Section 49002 of the Food and Agricultural Code is amended to read:49002.
(a) There is hereby created the Farm to Fork Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund that shall consist of money made available from federal, state, industry, philanthropic, and private sources.(b) Notwithstanding Section 13340 of the Government Code, all money deposited in the Farm to Fork Account is hereby continuously appropriated to the department without regard to fiscal years to carry out the purposes of this article.
SEC. 3.
Article 2 (commencing with Section 49005) is added to Chapter 12 of Division 17 of the Food and Agricultural Code, to read:Article 2. Farm to Hospital Grant Pilot Program
49005.
This article shall be known, and may be cited, as the Farm to Hospital Grant Pilot Program.49005.01.
For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:(a) “California-sourced agricultural products” means agricultural products that have been produced in California or harvested in its surface or coastal waters.
(b) “Climate smart agricultural practices” includes those practices defined as “climate smart agricultural practices” in the United States Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service’s conservation practice standards or by the department for purposes of the Cannella Environmental Farming Act of 1995 (Article 8.5 (commencing with Section 560) of Chapter 3 of Part 1 of Division
1) or Part 1(commencing with Section 101) of Division 1.
(c) “Eligible applicant” means the University of California, a research hospital, or a hospital capable of complying with the requirements of this article.
(d) “Food hub” means a public-serving aggregation and distribution enterprise or community food hub for California-sourced agricultural products.
(e) “Grant moneys” means moneys awarded to an eligible
applicant through the pilot program.
(f) “Grantee” means an eligible applicant awarded grant moneys through the pilot program.
(g) “Office” means the Office of Farm to Fork created by Section 49001.
(h) “Pilot program” means the Farm to Hospital Grant Pilot Program established by Section 49005.05.
(i) “Research hospital” means a hospital that expends at least 10 percent of its operating budget in each fiscal year exclusively on medical research activities that are not directly related to the provision of services to patients.
(j) “Socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher” has the
same meaning as defined in Section 512.
49005.05.
(a) The Farm to Hospital Grant Pilot Program, upon appropriation for this purpose, is hereby established.(b) The office shall administer the pilot program.
(c) In administering the pilot program, the office shall award competitive grants to eligible applicants to provide hospital patients with meals prepared from California-sourced agricultural products and build direct relationships with California farmers and ranchers, consistent with this article.
49005.10.
(a) The office, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, shall develop grant criteria to evaluate proposals from eligible applicants.(b) As part of each proposal, an eligible applicant shall include all of the following:
(1) A proposal narrative.
(2) A proposal budget.
(3) The scope and estimated number of hospital patients to be served meals by California-sourced agricultural products through the proposal.
(4) A description of the eligible applicant’s existing meal
preparation facilities and food procurement practices.
(5) A description of proposed nutrition standards and the differences between the proposed nutrition standards and existing standards.
(6) Proposed hospital staff necessary to implement the pilot program, such as dieticians.
(5)
(7) The proposed
use of any grant moneys awarded, including how that use is consistent with the purposes described by Section 49005.20.
(6)
(8) A plan for direct outreach to farms, ranches, and food hubs and for procurement, either directly or through a food distributor, from farms, ranches, and food hubs.
(9) A plan for data collection consistent with Section 49005.90 and for program evaluation.
49005.20.
A grantee may use grant moneys for only the following purposes:(a) Improving or expanding hospital meal preparation facilities or infrastructure for the use, preparation, or storage of California-sourced agricultural products.
(b) Supporting the planning of menus and patient meals that use seasonal California-sourced agricultural products.
(c) Purchasing equipment for meal preparation or storage of California-sourced agricultural products.
(d) Staffing necessary to conduct outreach to farms, plan menus, and
procure California-sourced agricultural products.
(e) Cost-share purchasing of California-sourced agricultural products pursuant to Section 49005.30.
(f) Conducting outreach to California farmers, ranchers, or food hubs to procure California-sourced agricultural products or connect farmers, ranchers, or food hubs with food distributors contracted by a hospital.
49005.30.
(a) The office shall set the percentage of a grantee’s costs of purchasing California-sourced agricultural products that the office will pay using grant moneys through cost-share purchasing.(b) In addition to the percentage set pursuant to subdivision (a) for purposes of cost-share purchasing, for each of the following conditions applicable to the entity from which the California-sourced agricultural products are purchased, the office shall set a separate cost-share purchasing percentage:
(1) The farm or ranch employs climate smart agricultural practices.
(2) The farm or ranch is owned by a socially disadvantaged farmer or rancher, woman farmer or rancher, or veteran farmer or rancher.
(3) The farm or ranch has gross incomes under two hundred fifty thousand dollars ($250,000).
(4) The entity is a food hub that serves a farm or ranch described in paragraph (2) or (3).
(c) In setting percentages pursuant to subdivision (b), the office may set a different percentage for each condition.
49005.40.
The office shall provide technical assistance to, and leverage its relationships with community-based organizations, the California Farm Bureau Federation, and county farm bureaus to, assist grantees for purposes of identifying and communicating with California farmers, ranchers, and food hubs.49005.90.
(a) Each grantee shall collect the following information, before and after each meal, from each hospital patient provided with a meal prepared from California-sourced agricultural products pursuant to the pilot program:(1) The hospital patient’s mood.
(2) The hospital patient’s duration of hospitalization.
(3)The hospital patient’s blood sugar level.
(3) The hospital patient’s palatability.
(4) The hospital patient’s food or plate waste.
(b) Each grantee shall collect the following information:
(1) The grantee’s average daily expenditures on food procurement and preparation.
(2) The grantee’s average daily income from meal purchases.
(3) The grantee’s method of outreach to farms and ranches.
(4) The grantee’s procurement agreements with farms, ranches, food hubs, and food distributors.
(5) The grantee’s changes to the hospital’s nutrition standards.
(c) On or before January 1, 2026, each grantee shall report the information described in subdivisions (a) and (b), with the information described in subdivision (a) reported in aggregated and deidentified form consistent with the federal Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (Public Law 104-191), to the office and the State Department of Public Health.
49005.95.
(a) On or before January 1, 2027, the office, in consultation with the State Department of Public Health, shall, pursuant to Section 9795 of the Government Code, submit to the Legislature a report on the pilot program that includes, but is not limited to, all of the following:(1) The use of grant moneys by grantees.
(2) The number of patients and meals served through the pilot program.
(3) The pilot program’s impact on patient outcomes.
the patient outcomes identified in subdivision (a) of Section 49005.90.
(4) The proportion of grantees implementing improved nutrition standards and a description of the improved standards.
(4)
(5) Any recommendations for future revisions to the pilot program.
(b) The office may contract with a private entity for the purpose of fulfilling the requirements of
this section.
