Alex Lee

Under existing law, it is the policy of the state that every human being has the right to access sufficient affordable and healthy food. Existing law requires all relevant state agencies to consider that state policy when revising, adopting, or establishing policies, regulations, and grant criteria when those policies, regulations, or criteria are pertinent to the distribution of sufficient affordable food.

Existing law requires the Department of Food and Agriculture, headed by the Secretary of Food and Agriculture, to promote and protect the agricultural industry of the state. Existing law creates the Office of Farm to Fork in the department and requires the office, to the extent resources are available, to work with the agricultural industry, direct marketing organizations, food policy councils, public health groups, nonprofit and philanthropic organizations, academic institutions, district agricultural associations, county, state, and federal agencies, and other organizations involved in promoting food access to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in this state.

Under existing law, the State Department of Social Services, headed by the Director of Social Services, implements the Supplemental Nutrition Benefit Program and the Transitional Nutrition Benefit Program.

This bill would create the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative Council within the office of the Treasurer, comprising specified members, and would require the council to implement the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative to expand access to nutritious foods in underserved, urban, suburban, tribal, and rural communities, to support programs that connect agricultural products to food assistance systems, and to eliminate food deserts and hunger in California. The bill would require the council to, among other things, define eligibility for the initiative and develop financing options, using public, philanthropic, or private moneys and other resources, to support access to healthy foods for all Californians. The bill would require the secretary, in coordination with the director, on or before July 1, 2027, to prepare recommendations, to be presented upon request to the Legislature, regarding actions that need to be taken to promote food access in the state and to develop strategies to align healthy food financing projects with food assistance programs to improve food affordability and food availability among underserved communities in the state, and would authorize the secretary, in coordination with the director, to establish an advisory group to assist in complying with that requirement, as specified.

The bill would establish the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative Fund in the State Treasury, consisting of federal, state, philanthropic, and private funds, for the purpose of expanding access to healthy foods in underserved communities. The bill would require moneys in the fund to be expended, upon appropriation by the Legislature, to leverage other funding, as specified.