Amended  IN  Senate  May 01, 2017
Amended  IN  Senate  March 29, 2017

CALIFORNIA LEGISLATURE— 2017–2018 REGULAR SESSION

Senate Bill No. 782

Introduced by Senator Skinner
(Coauthor: Assembly Member Eggman)

February 17, 2017

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 school meals.


LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST


SB 782, as amended, Skinner. School meals: California grown food. California-grown food: grant 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 California Grown California-Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program, to be administered by Program in the Department of Food and Agriculture. Agriculture for purposes of encouraging the purchase of California-grown food by schools and expanding the number of freshly prepared school meals offered within the state that use California-grown ingredients. The bill would require the department, Department of Food and Agriculture, in consultation with the State Department of Education, the State Department of Public Health, and other key stakeholders relevant to school meals, agriculture, or health, to establish and develop grant application criteria for the grant program. The bill would authorize a school district or a charter school to apply to the department for a grant and would require the school district or charter school to use this money to buy California grown food, as defined. minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants under the program to qualified entities, defined to include a school district, charter school, county office of education, or other entity approved by the Department of Food and Agriculture that participates in the federal National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program.
Vote: MAJORITY   Appropriation: NO   Fiscal Committee: YES   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 State of California should advance programs that promote a safe and healthy food supply, enhance the state agricultural economy, and ensure the health and well-being of all children. It is therefore of the utmost importance that school districts provide healthy and freshly prepared meals from food grown in California to public school children.
(b) The State of California participates in the federal National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and the federal School Breakfast Program (SBP), which are federal and state assisted meal programs that provide reimbursements to school districts for meals that meet nutrition standards served to eligible pupils for free or at a reduced price (FRP). NSLP and SBP are administered by the State Department of Education and recent data shows all of the following:
(1) Out of the six million pupils enrolled in California schools, more than half qualify for FRP meals.
(2) Seven hundred million breakfasts and lunches were prepared and served to pupils who qualify for FRP meals, with an average of 2.5 million meals served each day.
(3) The State Department of Education received a total of $2 billion in public funding as reimbursement for school breakfasts and lunches, including about $155,000,000 from the state.
(c) Various studies, including in the Journal of Health Economics, Journal of School Health, and Archives of Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine, show that fresh and nutritious school meals increase the health and academic achievement of pupils, improve attendance rates, and have positive behavioral impacts that result in better classroom environments.
(d) Increasing the local and regional sourcing of agricultural products in school meals can benefit the environment by reducing greenhouse gas emissions associated with the extra transportation and packaging required for products procured out of state and from abroad.
(e) According to a California State University, Fresno, Center for Agricultural Business study, every $1 spent in the agriculture sector adds $2.56 to the state’s economy.
(f) It is in the best interest of the state to increase the amount of funding for school meals directed to the procurement of California-grown food, which will have positive impacts on the state’s agricultural economy, the health and academic achievement of school children, and the environment.
(g) The Californian Grown California-Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program will improve the quality of school meals throughout the state.
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:
10.The California Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program
590.

For purposes of this article “California grown” means any food product grown or produced within the state, including in any inland waterway in the state.

591.

The purpose of this article is to establish the California Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program to provide grants for public schools to buy California grown food and to expand the number of freshly prepared school meals that use California grown ingredients throughout the school districts within the state.

592.

(a)(1)The department, in cooperation with the State Department of Education, the State Department of Public Health, and other key stakeholders relevant to school meals, agriculture, or health, shall establish and develop grant application criteria for the California Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program.

(2)It is the intent of the Legislature that guidelines and professional development relating to food service be included in the grant application criteria established by the department.

(b)The grant program established pursuant to this article shall be administered by the department.

593.

It is the intent of the Legislature that the grant program established pursuant to this article create opportunities for public and private partnerships. The department and other public entities and stakeholders described in subdivision (a) of Section 592 are encouraged to reach out to public and private entities for resource and program partnering opportunities.

594.

(a)A school district or a charter school may apply to the department for a grant pursuant to this article.

(b)(1)A school district and a charter school that receives a grant pursuant to this article may only use the money to purchase California grown food.

(2)Meals provided to pupils with California grown food, procured using grant money pursuant to this article, shall be provided at the same cost, no cost, or reduced cost, that the pupil pays for meals prepared with food not purchased with grant money provided pursuant to this article.

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. The California-Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program

590.
 For purposes of this article, the following definitions apply:
(a) “California-grown food” or “California-grown ingredients” means food or an agricultural product that has been produced in the state or harvested in the state’s surface waters or coastal waters.
(b) “Department” means the Department of Food and Agriculture.
(c) “Grant program” means the California-Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program.
(d) “Qualified entity” means a school district, charter school, county office of education, or other entity approved by the department that participates in the federal National School Lunch Program or the federal School Breakfast Program.

591.
 (a) The California-Grown Fresh School Meals Grant Program is hereby established within the department for purposes of encouraging the purchase of California-grown food by schools and expanding the number of freshly prepared school meals offered within the state that use California-grown ingredients.
(b) The department shall coordinate with the State Department of Education and the State Department of Public Health to implement the grant program.

592.
 The department shall administer the grant program in accordance with all of the following:
(a) The department shall establish minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants in consultation with the State Department of Education, the State Department of Public Health, and key stakeholders relevant to school meals, agriculture, or health.
(b) The grant program shall provide grants to qualified entities for both of the following:
(1) The purchase of California-grown food to be used for school meals.
(2) Expanding the number of freshly prepared school meals offered by a qualified entity, including, but not limited to, the purchase of equipment or training for the offering of freshly prepared meals.
(c) The department may give priority in awarding grants to a qualified entity based on, but not limited to, any of the following:
(1) The number of school children eligible for free or reduced-price meals served by the qualified entity.
(2) The degree to which the qualified entity does or will implement guidelines and professional development relating to food service.
(3) The amount of proposed matching funds or in-kind service specified in the application.
(d) The department shall provide technical assistance to qualified entities as needed.