AB 2335: Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program: Healthy Stores Refrigeration Grant Program.

Existing law establishes 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, including, among others, the agricultural industry and other organizations involved in promoting food access, to increase the amount of agricultural products available to underserved communities and schools in the state. Existing law requires the office to, among other things, 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.

Existing law establishes the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program in the Office of Farm to Fork, and creates the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to collect matching funds received from a specified federal grant program and funds from other public and private sources. Under the program, the department is required to award moneys in the account to qualified entities, as defined, to encourage the purchase and consumption of California fresh fruits, nuts, and vegetables by nutrition benefit clients, as defined. Existing law requires that grants only be provided upon the deposit of sufficient funds, as specified in the federal Food Insecurity Nutrition Incentive Grant Program application, into the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account. A violation of the laws governing fruit, nut, and vegetable standards is a crime.

This bill would instead require grants to be provided upon the deposit of sufficient funds, including from an a successful application of federal grant funding, if available, into the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Account. The bill would require matching funds to be collected from the specified federal grant program only if those funds are available. The bill would include, in the definition of qualified entities, community-supported agriculture programs and farm stands, as defined. The bill would, notwithstanding any other law, authorize the department to provide grant funds to a grantee in advance of the expenditure of funds by the grantee for implementation of the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program, instead of in the form of a reimbursement after the expenditure of funds for that program, in an amount equal to or less than 50% of the grant amount provided in the grantees grant agreement, if certain conditions are met.

The bill would create the Healthy Stores Refrigeration Grant Program in the department Account in the Department of Food and Agriculture Fund to collect funds for the Healthy Stores Refrigeration Grant Program that would be created by this bill. The bill would require funds to be deposited into the fund upon the appropriation of funds, including from an a successful application of federal grant funding, if available, by the Legislature for purposes of the Healthy Stores Refrigeration Grant Program. The bill would require the department to administer the Healthy Stores Refrigeration Grant Program and to award grants to qualified entities, as defined, for the purchase of an energy-efficient refrigeration unit or units by a small business or corner store that is located in a food desert. The bill would require a small business or corner store that purchases a refrigeration unit with grant funds to stock the unit with California-grown fresh fruits, nuts, vegetables, and minimally processed prepared foods, and to offer those items for sale. The bill would authorize not more than a city, county, city and county, or nonprofit entity that is awarded a grant to use up to 10% of Healthy Stores Refrigeration Grant Program grant funds to be used for technical assistance. The bill would authorize the department to establish regulations, minimum standards, funding schedules, and procedures for awarding grants to qualified entities, and to adopt any other regulations to implement and administer the Healthy Stores Refrigeration Grant Program. The bill would provide that certain provisions imposing criminal liability do not apply for a violation of these provisions or any regulation adopted to administer these provisions. The bill would provide that receipt of a grant under the Healthy Stores Refrigeration Grant Program or the Nutrition Incentive Matching Grant Program does not preclude the recipient from being eligible to receive a grant under the other program.