California Healthy Food & Agriculture Platform

Draft 1:

These planks will be debated, revised, and endorsed at the Roots of Change Network Summit on October 6–8.

1. School Nutrition Modernization Act:  Promotes consumption of California agricultural products and provides California school children with lifelong healthy eating habits by modernizing school food service procurement, food preparation practices, and classroom nutrition education. The Act (1) requires that food sold in public schools include a high percentage of California-grown fruits, vegetables, nuts, grains, dairy, meat and olive oil, (2) ensures that school food service workers have the training and professional development they need to prepare nutritious and appealing meals for students K-12, (3) promotes the incorporation of nutrition and agricultural education in existing curricula and in afterschool activities using learning laboratories such as school gardens and the school cafeteria, and (4) supports linkages between schools and existing local infrastructure such as farmers’ markets, food retailers, agricultural organizations, and institutions of health and higher education, to assist with these efforts.

2. Farm and Food Labor Enhancement Act: Protects undocumented workers from deportation for minor traffic violations; develop system for supporting regional year-round employment; prioritizes farmworker housing for block grants and investor incentives; provides tax credits to farming operations that offer in-field clinics and Employee Stock Ownership Plans (ESOPs). The Act commits California’s DC-based lobbyists to support the Ag Jobs Bill and other comprehensive immigration reform legislation which allows immigrant labor to be lawfully employed by farms and food businesses.

3. Farm, Food and Jobs Investment Incentives Act:Would provide $150 million in state financing to the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative fund over 5 years provided federal and private investments match that amount. The combined capital fund of $300 million would be used for new retail, retail retrofits, non-traditional and micro retail, and increasing small-scale farm product processing and packaging capacity in urban and rural communities. The funds would be divided: $200 million for investment in retail and $100 million for processing projects. Processing projects will focus on protein sources derived from intensive grazing and pastured and organic livestock operations and organic or other certified-sustainable fresh fruit, vegetables, and dried fruit and nuts, to be used in school food programs.  The Act provides a package of investment incentives designed to attract the private capital needed to match the $150 million from the state General Fund. These incentives include formation of special investment districts for HFFI projects, tax reductions to investors, accelerated depreciation, loan guarantees, and others that will be defined in consultation between local economic development agencies, community representatives, state and federal agencies, banks, and private investors.

4. Enhanced Community Nutrition and Fresh Food Access Act: Eliminates barriers when applying for food stamps (SNAP) such as finger printing requirements and provides state match for philanthropic and federal funding of programs that increase access to California-grown healthy fruits, vegetables, and nuts at farmers’ markets, within known food deserts in urban and rural communities.

5. Farm, Ranch, and Water Stewardship Incentives Act:  Provide matching state money to federal funds that support ecosystem services from agricultural lands. Financial incentives such as tax reductions, payments, and cost-sharing would be available to farmers and ranchers who protect riparian zones and soil health, protect air quality, undertake climate mitigation work, maximize water retention and quality, and produce on-farm renewable energy.

6. Beginning Farmers and Ranchers Career Entry Act: Provides banks, philanthropies, and investment funds with tax and other financial incentives to offer low-interest loans and equity investments to beginning farmers and ranchers. This would allow new farmers and ranchers to start  new operations or take over existing ones. The Act will also provide technical support and training to those who receive start-up investment.

7. Farm and Food Regulatory Reform Act:Forces state and federal agencies to eliminate contradictions in regulation that create bureaucratic impediments to ranchers and farmers who want to practice environmental stewardship; provides a safe harbor to affected farmers while contradictions are resolved. Within the safe harbor period, the Act provides farmers and ranchers with free technical advice and training to ensure their interim actions do not cause undue harm to the environment

8. State and Federal Farm and Health Legislation Integration Act:  Clarifies priorities for state projects and programs that are funded by any federal legislation with impact on food and farming, including the Farm Bill and the Affordable Health Care for Americans Act. These priorities will guide the decisions of state leaders as they invest these public funds.

9. Budget and Equity Offset Act to Support New Jobs, Healthy Food, and Agriculture:Calls for a mix of fees and taxes related to farming, food, and food services (including fees on sugared beverages, harsh pesticides, and synthetic fertilizer) to fund programs that ensure the sustainability of California’s agricultural capacity. Funds will support (1) state and local programs that protect the environmental integrity of the California farmlands, including soil health, water supply, and related ecosystems, (2) development of regional sustainable food and farm infrastructures, (3) development of urban agriculture projects, and (4) development and implementation of proven strategies to increase access to California-grown healthy fruits, vegetables, and nuts in food deserts and low-income communities. In addition, the Act establishes a soda tax to promote consumption of California specialty crops in California schools and to provide California school children with lifelong healthy eating habits by modernizing school food service procurement, food preparation practices, and classroom nutrition education.