BILL ANALYSIS
SENATE HEALTH
COMMITTEE ANALYSIS
Senator Sheila J. Kuehl, Chair
BILL NO: SB 107
S
AUTHOR: Alquist
B
AMENDED: March 29, 2007
HEARING DATE: April 11, 2007
1
FISCAL: Appropriations
0
7
CONSULTANT:
Patterson
SUBJECT
Community development: healthy food choices
SUMMARY
This bill requires the Department of Public Health (DPH) to
establish a grant and loan program to support projects that
increase access to fruits, vegetables, and other healthy
foods in grocery stores or farmers' markets in underserved
communities.
CHANGES TO EXISTING LAW
Existing law:
Existing law requires the Department of Health Services
(DHS) to develop and administer the Healthy Food Purchase
pilot program to increase the sale and purchase of fruits
and vegetables in low-income communities, as well as the "5
a Day for Better Health" program to promote fruit and
vegetable consumption. These duties will transfer to the
Department of Public Health (DPH) on July 1, 2007.
Existing law requires the Department of Housing and
Community Development within the Business, Transportation,
and Housing Agency (Agency) to administer various grant and
loan programs to support community-based housing and public
works projects, and public service projects for low-income
Continued---
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 107 (Alquist) Page
2
individuals.
Existing law also establishes the California Women, Infants
and Children (WIC) program, a nutrition program for
pregnant women, new mothers, and young children that
provides vouchers to program participants to purchase
specified foods from WIC-authorized grocers and food
venders.
This bill:
This bill would require the DPH, in partnership with the
Agency, to establish a grant and loan program, until
January 1, 2015, to support projects in underserved
communities that develop or revitalize retail grocery
stores or farmers' markets, that increase or improve
healthy food options at existing small markets, or that
create or support other retail or fruit and vegetable
distribution innovations. Grants and loans would be made
on a competitive, one-time basis to eligible for-profit,
non-profit or governmental applicants that serve
underserved communities.
This bill would specify that the grant or loan could be
used to pay for acquisition of land, refrigeration units,
workforce development and training, and other items.
Applicants would be ranked by DPH based on specified
eligibility criteria. The bill would prohibit the use of
grant or loan funds for operating expenses, and also would
provide that restaurants are not eligible for a grant or
loan under the program.
This bill would require grant and loan recipients to sell
specified food items, and would require DPH to establish
requirements for grant recipients that primarily sell
produce. The bill would also to the extent possible,
require the DPH, the Agency and the WIC program, to provide
technical assistance to grant and loan recipients.
This bill would declare legislative intent that the grant
and loan program funds be used to leverage other funding
sources, and would require DHS to annually report to the
Legislature on funded projects. This bill would also
authorize DPH to contract with a third-party, non-profit
organization to fulfill specified program provisions.
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 107 (Alquist) Page
3
This bill would also establish the Healthy Food Retail
Innovations Fund within the State Treasury into which funds
appropriated by the Legislature would be deposited to
support the program, and would make various legislative
findings and declarations relating to access to fruits and
vegetables by residents of low-income communities, the
prevalence of diabetes and obesity in the state, and the
potential benefits of increasing access to retail food
markets that sell healthy foods in low-income communities.
FISCAL IMPACT
Unknown. The provisions of this bill are contingent upon a
budget appropriation.
BACKGROUND AND DISCUSSION
Purpose of Bill
According to the author, choices made by individuals about
what they eat are greatly affected by the availability of
food in their environment. The author states that as
grocery stores close in many neighborhoods, and access to
healthy food decreases, people rely more on convenience and
fast food options, which contribute to obesity, diabetes,
and other chronic health conditions. The author argues
that it is essential to implement strategies to increase
access to healthy foods, and that this bill would help
retail food markets obtain the support they need to sell
healthy foods in underserved communities.
Access to healthy foods
Various research studies have suggested that low-income
communities and communities of color generally have less
access to supermarkets or other types of food retailers
that offer fresh fruits, vegetables, or other types of
healthy foods. For example, a 2002 study conducted by the
Center for Food Justice found that middle and upper income
communities in Los Angeles County have 2.3 times as many
supermarkets per capita as low-income communities. The
same study found that predominantly Caucasian communities
have 3.2 times the number of supermarkets as predominantly
African American communities, and 1.7 times those of
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 107 (Alquist) Page
4
predominantly Latino communities.
According to the California Center for Public Health
Advocacy (CCPHA), lower-income consumers are generally less
likely to have private transportation than middle or upper
income consumers, requiring them to shop at small stores
located in their communities rather than travel to
supermarkets. Often, these small stores offer fewer
healthy foods, and charge higher prices than supermarkets.
The Food First Institute for Food and Development reports
that prices at corner stores that are common throughout
inner-city neighborhoods are sometimes as much as 49
percent higher than those of supermarkets, and offer
little, if any, fresh meat and produce.
Additionally, The California Endowment (TCE) reports that
residents in low-income communities who have limited
options for healthy foods often resort to buying unhealthy
foods at fast food outlets. The CCPHA reports that there
are four times as many fast food restaurants and
convenience stores in California as there are supermarkets
and produce vendors.
Retail strategies to improve access
Numerous research studies have recommended increasing
access to supermarkets and other types of vendors of
fruits, vegetables, and other healthy foods as a way to
address rising rates of obesity. For example, in 2002, the
American Journal of Medicine reported that people who live
near supermarkets are more likely to eat recommended
amounts of fruits and vegetables and are less likely to be
obese.
In 2005, PolicyLink issued a report that evaluated
strategies for improving access to healthy food in urban
and rural underserved communities. The report concluded
that the three most promising strategies were to develop
new grocery stores, improve the selection and quality of
food in existing smaller stores, and start and sustain
farmers' markets. The report highlights successful
deployment of these strategies in communities.
Prior legislation
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 107 (Alquist) Page
5
AB 2384 (Leno), Chapter 236, Statutes of 2006 established
the "Healthy Food Purchase" pilot program to increase the
sale and purchase of fresh fruits and vegetables in
low-income communities via support and technical assistance
for small grocers in low-income communities, and financial
incentives for food stamp recipients to purchase produce.
SB 1329 (Alquist) would have required the Department of
Food and Agriculture until January 1, 2010, in partnership
with the Department of Health Services (DHS), to establish
a grant program to support retail food markets that offer
high quality fruit and vegetables in underserved
communities. Held in the Assembly Appropriations Committee
Arguments in support
Supporters state that community food assessments conducted
in California have demonstrated that residents of
low-income and underserved communities struggle with poor
access to healthy, affordable, and high quality food. They
also state that improving access to healthy food is one
important way to address California's obesity epidemic and
related health problems such as diabetes and heart disease.
Supporters argue that this bill will provide affordable,
high quality, healthy food for underserved urban and rural
communities across the state, and will improve health and
local economic vitality by leveraging existing community
resources and strengthening relationships between local
grocers and community residents. They contend that the
bill will promote innovative strategies such as mobile
markets, independent grocery co-ops, and public and private
partnerships with chain supermarkets, and that the markets
supported by the bill's grant and loan program will bring
economic benefits such as providing new jobs, attracting
additional new retailers to the community, and supporting
small-scale farmers that will benefit from increased demand
for healthy foods.
COMMENTS AND QUESTIONS
1.Suggested technical and clarifying amendments:
a. Page 4, lines 15 - 19:
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 107 (Alquist) Page
6
Eligible projects include, but are not limited to, projects
to that encourage development of or revitalize
revitalization of retail grocery stores or farmers'
markets, to improve or increase healthy food options
available at existing corner stores or small markets, or
other create or support retail market or fruit and
vegetable distribution innovations that meet the intent of
this section.
b. Page 4, line 27:
?technical assistance, feasability feasibility studies,
business plan costs, and
c. Page 5, lines 8 - 13:
?residents of the community , and shall meet all of the
criteria listed in subdivision (d). Applicants shall
demonstrate that the community supports the proposed
project, that the project will have a positive economic
impact on the surrounding community, that the project is
likely to be successful and economically self-sustaining,
and any other criteria as the department may determine and
that are consistent with the purposes of this chapter.
d. Page 5, lines 38-39:
?produce, meat, baked goods, and dairy products to the
widest possible group of consumers the general public. The
department shall establish?
e. Page 6, line 2:
?grant or loan recipients that primarily sell produce.
f. Page 6, line 22:
?to fulfill the obligations described in subdivisions (b)
(d) to (g),?
g. Delete the words "Business, Housing and Transportation
STAFF ANALYSIS OF SENATE BILL 107 (Alquist) Page
7
Agency" wherever they appear in the bill, and replace
them with the words Business, Transportation and
Housing Agency.
POSITIONS
Support: California Center for Public Health Advocacy
(co-sponsor)
American Heart Association (co-sponsor)
PolicyLink (co-sponsor)
Alameda County Board of Supervisors
American Cancer Society
California Food Policy Advocates
California Independent Grocers Association
Congress of California Seniors
California WIC Association
Kaiser Permanente
Lambda Letters Project
Latino Coalition for a Healthy California
National Council of La Raza
Stanford School of Medicine Center for Healthy
Weight
Oppose:None received
END