Farm to Community Food Hub Program.

Existing law creates the Office of Farm to Fork within the Department of Food and Agriculture, which is under the control of the Secretary 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. This bill would establish the Farm to Community Food Hub Program, which would be administered by the office. The bill would authorize the department to consult with outside entities who possess expertise in specified areas, including, but not limited to, the Sustainable Agriculture and Research Education Program. The bill would require the secretary to establish an advisory committee, composed as specified, for the purpose of advising the secretary with respect to their responsibilities regarding the program. The bill would require that the program incentivize the creation and permanency of public-serving aggregation and distribution enterprises, known as farm to community food hubs, which may be operated by nonprofit organizations, school districts, county offices of education, cooperatives, food and agriculture-related businesses, or Certified B Corporations. The bill would require a farm to community food hub to serve as an aggregator and supply chain intermediary for local or regional farms or ranches, particularly those optimizing sustainable agriculture production practices or methods and following state labor practices, to prioritize, to the greatest extent feasible, distributing food products from those farms or ranches to public institutions and nonprofit organizations, and to ensure that farms and ranches with which it works comply with all laws, rules, and regulations. The bill would require, for the first phase of the program, the office to solicit and select proposals throughout the state to create farm to community food hubs and award planning grants to selected proposals. The bill would require, for the second phase of the program, the office to select at least 3 of the proposals that were awarded planning grants during the first phase and award to those proposals development grants for capital and operating expenses of the farm to community food hub for a 5-year period. The bill would require, for at least 5 years following the initial award of that development grant funding, the office to provide an annual report on the status of the farm to community food hubs to the Legislature, as specified. The bill would make the implementation of the program contingent upon an appropriation by the Legislature for its purposes, including the department's administrative costs. The bill would repeal these provisions on January 1, 2028.