Agenda

Return

C. 41

To:	Board of Supervisors
From:	LEGISLATION COMMITTEE
Date:	June 9, 2015

Contra

Costa

County

Subject:

AB 1321 (Ting) Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program

APPROVE	OTHER
RECOMMENDATION OF CNTY ADMINISTRATOR	RECOMMENDATION OF BOARD COMMITTEE

Action of Board On: 06/09/2015

APPROVED AS RECOMMENDED

OTHER

Clerks Notes:

VOTE OF SUPERVISORS

AYE:

John Gioia, District I Supervisor
Candace Andersen, District II Supervisor
Mary N. Piepho, District III Supervisor
Karen Mitchoff, District IV Supervisor

ABSENT:

Federal D. Glover, District V Supervisor

Contact:

L. DeLaney, 925-335-1097

I hereby certify that this is a true and correct copy of an action taken and entered on the minutes of the Board of Supervisors on the date shown.
ATTESTED: June 9, 2015
David Twa,

BY:	, Deputy

RECOMMENDATION(S):

ADOPT a "Support" position on AB 1321 (Ting): Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program, as introduced, a bill that establishes the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant (NIMG) Program in the Office of Farm to Fork, to encourage the purchase and consumption of fresh California fruits, nuts, and vegetables by directly linking producers with certain public benefit recipients, as recommended by the Legislation Committee.

FISCAL IMPACT:

Fiscal impact unknown.

BACKGROUND:

At its May 7, 2015 meeting, the Legislation Committee considered the recommendation from the Agricultural Commissioner to recommend a position of "Support" to the Board of Supervisors on AB 1321.

BACKGROUND: (CONT'D)

Introduced: 02/27/2015
Disposition: Pending
Location: Assembly Appropriations Committee
Status: 05/20/2015 In Assembly APPROPRIATIONS. On Suspense File.

SUMMARY: This bill establishes the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant (NIMG) Program in the Office of Farm to Fork (OF2F), creates a NIMG account and requires OF2F to establish minimum standards, funding schedules and grant procedures for the NIMG program. Specifically, this bill:

1) Establishes the NIMG program within OF2F for the purpose of encouraging the buying and eating of California fruit, nuts and vegetables.

2) Defines the following:

a) Nutrition benefit client (NBC) means a person who receives services or payments through any of the following:

i) California Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), as described in current state law;

ii) CalWORKS program, as described in current state law;

iii) CalFresh, as described in current state law;

iv) Implementation of the federal WIC Farmers' Market Nutrition Act of 1992;

v) The Senior Farmers' Market Nutrition Program, as current United State law; or,

vi) Supplemental Security Income or State Supplementary Payment, as current United State law.

b) Defines a qualified entity as:

i) A certified farmers' market, an association of certified producers, or a nonprofit organization representing a collective or association of certified producers, as specified; or,

ii) A small business that sells California grown fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables and is authorized to accept nutrition benefits from any of the programs uses by NBC, as specified.

c) Defines a consumer incentive program (CIP) to mean a program administered by a qualified entity that doubles the purchasing value of a NBC's benefits when the benefits are used to purchase California fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables.

3) Creates the NIMG account within OF2F to collect matching funds from federal grant programs, and other public and private sources.

4) Requires OF2F to provide and administer grants under the NIMG program in accordance with the following:

a) Requires, subject to federal regulation and state appropriations, funds in the NIMG account be awarded by grants to qualified entities for a CIP;

b) Requires OF2F to establish minimum standards, funding schedules and procedures for awarding grants, in consultation with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and other specified parties of interest, as specified;

i) Requires OF2F to not spend more than one-third of NIMG programs funds on CIP.

c) Requires OF2F to prioritize the awarding of NIMGs based on, but not limited to, the following:

i) Known demographic information as follows:

(1) The NBC in an area;

(2) The prevalence of diabetes, obesity or other diet related diseases; and,

(3) The availability of fresh fruits, nuts and vegetables.

ii) Demonstrated skill in administering a CIP; and,

iii) Areas where the current population is not being served a CIP.

EXISTING LAW:

1) Establishes OF2F within the Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA), to work with various entities involved in promoting food access, and to increase the amount of agricultural products available to schools and underserved communities in the state.

2) Requires OF2F to identify urban and rural communities that lack access to healthy food, and to coordinate with local, state, and federal agencies to promote and increase awareness of programs that promote greater food access.

3) Creates the Farm to Fork Account in the CDFA Fund consisting of money made available from federal, state, industry, and other sources, and would continuously appropriate the money deposited in the account to carry out the purposes of OF2F.

EXISTING FEDERAL LAW:

1) Establishes the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), formerly the food stamp program, administered by USDA, which imposes specified rules on specified program participants and limits benefits based on those rules.

2) Establishes state grants for programs that supplement nutrition benefits that are spent on products at farmers' markets, based upon specified criteria.


COMMENTS: The California Market Match (MM) program was launched in 2009 to encourage low-income families receiving benefits through SNAP to purchase fresh, locally-grown fruits and vegetables at farmers' markets. The program "matches" or doubles the amount of benefits these families can spend and has expanded operations to over 150 farmers' markets across California and increased the spending power of 37,000 families.

According to the author, strong demand for MM often outstrips available funding for the program. The 2014 federal Farm Bill included $100 million in grant funding for programs such as Market Match that incentivize healthier eating amongst SNAP recipients. In order to best position local programs to receive these federal grants, this bill creates a state NIMG Program to apply for federal funds and award them to local MM programs with a proven record of success. Establishing a state framework to oversee funding of MM programs would leverage state resources to streamline local program administration, and expand MM programs across a more equitable cross-section of communities that lack access to fresh produce.

One of the co-sponsors of this bill, Roots of Change, explained how they used $1.9 million in CDFA Specialty Crop Block Grant money, and nearly $300,000 in philanthropic funds from 2009 to 2013, to create the California MM pilot program. The MM pilot program has expanded market opportunities for specialty crop farmers. Supporters state that community-based partners operated in 23 counties to implement MM programs in 150 markets in 2014. Currently, the incentive match funds used to increase purchasing power are derived from philanthropic sources only and are therefore limited in scope. Supporters state the goal of this bill is to assist the state in leveraging federal dollars to increase specialty crop sales among low-income Californians.

The author states that California is uniquely positioned to benefit from greater proliferation of programs such as MM. California grows over 400 commodities and produces nearly half of US-grown fruits, nuts and vegetables. There are approximately 700 certified Farmers' Markets and 2,200 certified producers in California. Furthermore, the author stresses that California has a persistent poverty problem to solve. 24% of Californians live in poverty and is ranked 50th in the rate of participation in SNAP. Scaling up MM programs would create an incentive for more families to utilize their SNAP benefits and ensure more Californians can afford to eat what is grown locally.

REGISTERED SUPPORT / OPPOSITION:

Support
Ecology Center (co-sponsor)
Roots of Change (co-sponsor)
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California (co-sponsor)
Public Health Institute (co-sponsor)
Agricultural Commissioner of the City/County of San Francisco
Agricultural Institute of Marin
Agriculture and Land-based Training Association
AltaMed Health Services Corporation
American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network
American Heart Association
American Stroke Association
Ashland Cherryland Food Policy Council
Berkeley Food Institute
Building Healthy Communities: Long Beach
California Alliance of Farmers' Markets
California Association of Food Banks
California Black Health Network
California Certified Organic Farmers
California Commission on Aging
California Convergence
California Farm Bureau Federation
California Food Policy Advocates
California Food Policy Council
California Hunger Action Coalition
California Pan-Ethnic Health Network
California Partnership
California Rural Legal Assistance Foundation
Center for Food Safety
City of Santa Monica
City of Santa Monica's Farmers' Market Program
Coastside Farmers' Markets
Community Alliance with Family Farmers
Community Food and Justice Coalition
County of Yolo
CUESA
Cultiva La Salud
Enrich LA
Feeding America San Diego
First 5 LA
Food Chain Workers Alliance
Food for People, Food Bank for Humboldt County
Hunger Action Los Angeles
Hunger Advocacy Network
Jewish Family Service of Los Angeles
Los Angeles Community Action Network
Los Angeles Food Policy Council
Madera County Agricultural Commissioner
Natural Resources Defense Council
North Coast Growers' Association
Orange County Food Access Coalition
Pacific Coast Farmers' Market Association
Plumas-Sierra Community Food Council
PolicyLink
Prevention Institute
Project Angel Food
San Diego Hunger Coalition
San Francisco Food Security Task Force
San Francisco Unified School District
San Francisco Urban Agriculture Alliance
Santa Barbara Food Alliance
Santa Cruz County Agricultural Commissioner
Sebastopol Farmers Market
SF-Marin Food Bank
Slow Food California
Social Justice Learning Institute
Sprouts of Promise Foundation
SPUR
St. Anthony Foundation
Strategic Alliance for Healthy Food & Activity Environments
Sustainable Economic Enterprises of Los Angeles
Sustainable Economies Law Center
Thai Community Development Center
The Farmers Guild
UC San Diego, Department of Pediatrics Center for Community Health
United Food & Commercial Workers Union, Western States Council
United Way of Kern County
Urban & Environment Policy Institute
Volunteers of East Los Angeles
Wellington Square Certified Farmers Market
Western Center on Law & Poverty
Western Growers
Women Organizing Resources, Knowledge & Services
Yolo County Ag & Food Alliance

Opposition

None of file

CONSEQUENCE OF NEGATIVE ACTION:

Contra Costa County would not have a position on the bill.