Bill Text: CT HB05088 | 2014 | General Assembly | Introduced

---

Bill Title: An Act Concerning Certification For Connecticut-grown Markets And Restaurants.

Spectrum:

Status: (Introduced - Dead) 2014-02-13 - Public Hearing 02/19 [HB05088 Detail]

Download: Connecticut-2014-HB05088-Introduced.html

---

General Assembly		Raised Bill No. 5088
February Session, 2014		LCO No. 971
		*00971_______ENV*
Referred to Committee on ENVIRONMENT
Introduced by:
(ENV)

AN ACT CONCERNING CERTIFICATION FOR CONNECTICUT-GROWN MARKETS AND RESTAURANTS.

Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives in General Assembly convened:

Section 1. Section 22-38b of the general statutes is repealed and the following is substituted in lieu thereof (Effective October 1, 2014):

(a) For the purposes of this section, "grocery or food store" means a business that employs ten or more persons and is engaged in the retail sale of produce, such as fruits and vegetables, meats, poultry, seafood, nuts, dairy products, bakery products or eggs, and "Connecticut-Grown" has the same meaning as provided in section 22-38.

(b) No grocery or food store shall be eligible for any state grant, financial assistance, state loan or other state-funded incentive under title 32, unless such store is certified as a ["Connecticut Farm Fresh] "Connecticut-Grown Market" by the Commissioner of Agriculture pursuant to subsection (c) of this section.

(c) The Commissioner of Agriculture shall establish and administer a program, within available resources, to certify grocery and food stores as ["Connecticut Farm Fresh] "Connecticut-Grown Markets". A grocery or food store may be certified by the commissioner as a [Connecticut Farm Fresh] Connecticut-Grown Market if proof is submitted, to the satisfaction of the commissioner, that such store continuously stocks [fifteen] five per cent or more of its shelf space for retail produce and dairy with farm products grown or produced in this state on a year-round basis and stocks twenty-five per cent or more of its shelf space for retail produce with Connecticut-Grown farm products during the months of July, August and September. [Such products include, but are not limited to, dairy products, meat, poultry, seafood, nuts, eggs, fruits and vegetables.] A grocery or food store certified as a [Connecticut Farm Fresh] Connecticut-Grown Market may use the words ["Connecticut Farm Fresh] "Connecticut-Grown Market" for promotional and marketing activities. No store other than a store certified as a [Connecticut Farm Fresh] Connecticut-Grown Market may use such words for promotional and marketing activities.

(d) The Commissioner of Agriculture shall establish and administer a program, within available resources, to promote restaurants in the state that serve farm products grown or produced in the state. The commissioner shall, upon receiving proof satisfactory to said commissioner that at least twenty per cent of food served by a restaurant consists of farm products grown and produced in the state, certify the restaurant to use the words ["Connecticut Farm Fresh] "Connecticut-Grown Restaurant" for promotional and marketing activities. No restaurant other than one certified as a [Connecticut Farm Fresh] Connecticut-Grown Restaurant may use such words for promotional and marketing activities.

(e) The Commissioner of Agriculture may adopt regulations, in accordance with the provisions of chapter 54, to carry out the purposes of this section.

This act shall take effect as follows and shall amend the following sections:
Section 1	October 1, 2014	22-38b

Statement of Purpose:

To rename the Connecticut Farm Fresh Market and Restaurant program as the Connecticut-Grown Market and Restaurant program and to establish new thresholds for certification under such program.

[Proposed deletions are enclosed in brackets. Proposed additions are indicated by underline, except that when the entire text of a bill or resolution or a section of a bill or resolution is new, it is not underlined.]