New Jersey-2022-S4045-Introduced

An Act concerning the procurement of local food products by school districts, supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation.

Be It Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of the State of New Jersey:

1. As used in this act:

"Baseline levels" or "baselines" means the baseline levels identified by a school district pursuant to paragraph (5) of subsection c. of section 2 of this act.

"Department" means the Department of Agriculture.

"Eligible costs" means the actual, documented costs, which are reimbursable with program grant funds, as provided by subsection f. of section 2 of this act, and which are expended by an eligible school district, by a participating school, or by a district-operated or third party-contracted food service provider or vendor operating in the district, in order to implement or undertake the expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, or activities described in a grant application submitted pursuant to subsection c. of section 2 of this act.

"Eligible school district" or "eligible district" means a school district in which all participating schools provide subsidized school meals to students who are eligible therefor.

"Expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, or activities" means those policies, standards, processes, systems, or activities, described in a grant application submitted pursuant to subsection c. of section 2 of this act, which are being newly implemented or undertaken, in a school district or in participating schools therein, specifically in order to increase, above current levels, the total number or type of local foods being procured for students in the district, the meal periods during which such local foods are served to students in the district, or the total number or type of students in the district who are being provided with access to such local foods, during either the school year or the summer months, or both.

"Federal School Breakfast Program" means the same as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-3.2).

"Ineligible costs" means any costs that do not constitute eligible costs for the purposes of the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program, including, but not limited to, any costs incurred, by a school or school district, in the sourcing or purchasing of fluid dairy milk, or in association with the district's ordinary, unexpanded sourcing and procurement of local food products at or below the baseline levels identified in the district's grant application, submitted pursuant to subsection c. of section 2 of this act.

"Local food" or "local food product" means any raw, whole, or minimally processed fruit, vegetable, herb, meat, seafood, legume, or grain that is 100 percent grown, raised, or caught in the State or in State waters, regardless of the where the distributor of such food is located. "Local food" or "local food product" includes New Jersey canned tomatoes, but does not include fluid dairy milk.

"Minimally processed" means that a local food product is in its raw or whole state, or has been cut, chopped, sliced, butchered, dried, or frozen, but has not been cooked, heated, canned, or been subject to supplementation with any additives or fillers.

"National School Lunch Program" means the same as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-3.2).

"Participating school" means a school that is identified, by a school district, in a grant application submitted pursuant to subsection c. of section 2 of this act, and which has agreed to participate in the expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, or activities being implemented or undertaken in the district with the use of grant funds awarded under the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program.

"Program" means the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program established pursuant to section 2 of this act.

"School breakfast program" means the same as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-3.2).

"School lunch program" means the same as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-3.2).

"Secretary" means the Secretary of Agriculture.

"Small or mid-sized family farm" means a farm that is categorized, by the United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service, as a small family farm, which has an annual gross cash farm income of less than $350,000, or as a mid-sized family farm, which has an annual gross cash farm income of not less than $350,000 and not more than $999,999.

"Socially disadvantaged farmer" means a person who is trained to engage in agricultural or horticultural activities and is a member of a socially disadvantaged group.

"Socially disadvantaged group" means a population group whose members have been subjected to prejudice or discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, age, disability, or, where applicable, sex, marital status, familial status, parental status, religion, sexual orientation, genetic information, political beliefs, or participation in any public assistance program, because of their membership in the group or the shared characteristics of the group, and without regard to their individual qualities.

"Subsidized school meals" or "subsidized meals" means school lunch or breakfast, or both, the cost of which is partially or fully subsidized by the State or federal government pursuant to the National School Lunch Program, the federal School Breakfast Program, and the associated provisions of P.L.1974, c.53 (C.18A:33-4), P.L.2003, c.4 (C.18A:33-9 et seq.); P.L.2019, c.445 (C.18A:33-21.1), and P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-3.2 et al.).

"Subsidized student" means the same as that term is defined in section 1 of P.L.2022, c.104 (C.18A:33-3.2).

"Summer Food Service Program" means the federal reimbursement program, established under 42 U.S.C. s.1761 and 7 C.F.R. Part 225, pursuant to which the United States Department of Agriculture is authorized to provide grants-in-aid and other assistance to the states, as may be necessary to help schools, local government agencies, nonprofit organizations, colleges and universities, and summer camps finance the administrative and operational costs of providing meals to children, in low-income areas, during the summer months and other planned periods of school closure.

2. a. The Secretary of Agriculture shall establish and operate a Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program. The purpose of the grant program shall be to provide sufficient reimbursement financing to eligible school districts in the State, as necessary to allow such districts to implement or undertake expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, and activities at their own pace, and to whatever extent that such policies, standards, processes, systems, and activities are capable of being so expanded or modified, as may be necessary to increase the total number or type of local foods being procured for students, the meal periods during which such local foods are served to students, or the total number or type of students being offered such local foods, for the purposes of the National School Lunch Program, the federal School Breakfast Program, the Summer Food Service Program, and any other school meals programs operated during the school year or the summer months, or both.

b. The secretary shall be authorized to annually award a program grant to each eligible school district that submits an application therefor, pursuant to subsection c. of this section, in accordance with the following minimum and maximum annual funding allowances:

(1) a small school district, which has less than 5,000 students enrolled at participating schools, shall be eligible to receive an annual program grant of not less than $10,000 and not more than $50,000;

(2) a medium-sized school district, which has not less than 5,000 and not more than 10,000 students enrolled at participating schools, shall be eligible to receive an annual program grant of not less than $20,000 and not more than $125,000; and

(3) a large school district, which has 10,000 or more students enrolled at participating schools, shall be eligible to receive an annual program grant of not less than $44,000 and not more than $250,000.

c. A school district that wishes to obtain a grant under the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program shall submit an application therefor, in a form and manner prescribed by the secretary. The grant application shall:

(1) identify the total number and percentage of schools, in the district, that will be participating in, or directly benefitting from, grant-funded local food sourcing and procurement activities, and the total number of students enrolled at participating schools in the district;

(2) based on the enrollment numbers identified pursuant to paragraph (1) of this subsection, indicate whether the applicant district constitutes a small district, a medium-sized district, or a large district, for the purposes of funding determinations being made pursuant to subsection b. of this section, and indicate the total amount of the grant award being sought by the district, within the appropriate minimum and maximum funding range established pursuant to subsection b. of this section;

(3) for each participating school, identify: (a) the location of the school; (b) whether the school offers a school lunch program, a school breakfast program, or both, and whether breakfast, if served, is made available to students through a breakfast after the bell program; (c) the current price being charged to students at the school who are required to pay for school meals being served thereto; and (d) the number and percentage of students at the school who are eligible for subsidized school meals;

(4) indicate whether the district, or any participating school therein, is located in a food desert area, as designated by the New Jersey Economic Development Authority pursuant to section 38 of P.L.2020, c.156 (C.34:1B-306);

(5) include a copy of the district's existing food procurement plan, if relevant, including baseline data that specifically identifies the type and amount of local food products currently being sourced and procured for students at participating schools in the district;

(6) describe the ways in which the district proposes to use program grant funding to initiate, expand, or otherwise modify its local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, or activities, and expressly identify the expanded types or amounts of local food products that the district proposes to source and procure for students, the expanded meal periods during which the district proposes to serve local food products to students, or the expanded number or types of students who will be provided with access to local foods, as the case may be, beyond the baselines identified pursuant to paragraph (5) of this subsection, through the use of a program grant;

(7) identify the name and address of, or provide other appropriate contact information for, each farm or other local food producer from which local foods will be sourced under the district's revised local food procurement program;

(8) identify all other State or federal grant awards and financing options that are available to finance the district's eligible costs. To the extent that the school district's food service department budget contains reference to all available awards and financing options, the school district may submit a copy of its current food service department budget for the purposes of this paragraph; and

(9) provide any other information required by the secretary.

d. Grants under the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program shall be awarded on a competitive basis, within the limits of moneys appropriated or otherwise made available to the department for the program's purposes. Any grant moneys awarded pursuant to program shall be distributed directly to the applicant school district, as provided by section 3 of this act, and each such school district receiving an award of grant moneys shall be authorized to use and disburse the funds, as appropriate and necessary to reimburse the eligible costs that have been expended by the district, by participating schools, or by district-operated or third party-contracted food service providers or vendors in association with the district's expanded sourcing and procurement of local foods, consistent with the provisions of subsection f. of this section and section 3 of this act.

e. In reviewing grant applications and making funding determinations pursuant to this section, the secretary:

(1) shall consider: (a) the extent to which students at participating schools in the applicant district are eligible for subsidized school meals; (b) whether, and the extent to which, the district and participating schools are located in a food desert area; (c) whether, and the extent to which, the district and participating schools will be encouraged or required, pursuant to the expanded or modified local food sourcing or procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, or activities being implemented or undertaken through the use of grant funds, to source and procure local food products produced by small or mid-sized family farms or socially disadvantaged farmers in the State; and (d) whether, and how many times, the district has previously applied for, received, and fully expended, program grant funding; and

(2) shall give priority funding preference to those eligible school districts that: (a) have a high number or percentage of subsidized students enrolled at participating schools and will use awarded grant funds, in full or in part, to increase subsidized students' access to local foods; (b) are located, or have participating schools located, in a food desert area; (c) propose to expand or modify their local food procurement policies so as to require the increased sourcing and procurement of local food products produced by small or mid-sized family farms or socially disadvantaged farmers in the State; or (d) were recipients of a program grant award in one or more prior years, the full amount of which has been expended and reimbursed in compliance with all applicable requirements.

f. Of the program grant funds annually awarded to an eligible school district, pursuant to this section:

(1) at least 80 percent shall be used, by the school district, to reimburse the costs being expended by the district, by participating schools, and by district-operated or third party-contracted food service providers or vendors, in sourcing and procuring the increased types or numbers of local foods that are needed to implement the district's expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, and activities, as described in the grant application; and

(2) up to 20 percent may be used, by the school district, to reimburse the costs being expended by the district, by participating schools, and by district-operated and third party-contracted food service providers or vendors, in acquiring, maintaining, repairing, replacing, or updating appropriate equipment, materials, and supplies, or in employing or training appropriate staff, as necessary to facilitate the effective implementation of the district's expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, and activities, as described in the grant application.

g. Grant moneys awarded pursuant to the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program shall not be used to reimburse any ineligible costs, and shall not be used to reimburse any eligible costs that are already being paid for or reimbursed with other State or federal funds. In any case where another State or federal agency or program is providing funding for eligible costs being expended by the district, by participating schools, or by district-operated or third party-contracted food service vendors, in association the expansion or modification of the district's local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, or activities, the total eligible costs that are reimbursable under the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program shall be reduced by the amount of the other State or federal contributions.

h. A school district that is approved for a program grant award, pursuant to this section, shall not be entitled to receive a lump-sum disbursement of the grant funds, and shall, instead, be required to prepare and submit a monthly invoice and accounting statement, to the secretary, in each month of the annual disbursement period established pursuant to subsection a. of section 3 of this act, in order to receive a disbursement of grant funds awarded pursuant to this section. Each monthly invoice and accounting statement shall include:

(1) the name and address of, or other contact information for, each farm or other local food producer supplying local food products to the school district;

(2) appropriate receipts, photos, or other documentation verifying the expenditures being accounted for in the monthly invoice and accounting statement; and

(3) a brief explanation documenting why such expenditures should be deemed to constitute eligible costs for the purposes of program reimbursement.

3. a. Grant funds awarded under the program shall be disbursed to the recipient school district on a rolling, term-limited, monthly installment basis, over the course of a single-year commencing on September 1 and ending on July 31 next following the date on which the program grant is awarded pursuant to section 2 of this act, and using a draw-down process that provides for reimbursement checks to be issued to the district within 60 days after the department receives each monthly invoice and accounting statement submitted by the district pursuant to subsection h. of section 2 of this act. The amount of each such installment payment shall be sufficient, within the limits of the district's annual grant funding award, to reimburse the eligible costs documented in the district's most recent monthly invoice and accounting statement.

b. Grant funds disbursed to a school district, pursuant to this section, may be further allocated, by the district, to participating schools, or to district-operated or third party-contracted food service providers or vendors, in order to reimburse the eligible costs being expended thereby, as documented in the district's most recent invoice and accounting statement.

c. Except as otherwise provided by subsection d. of this section, any program grant funds that are awarded to a school district, but which remain unclaimed by the district at the end of the annual disbursement period established pursuant to subsection a. of this section, shall be reclaimed by the secretary, at that time, and used to finance future grant awards under the program.

d. Nothing in this section, or in any other provision of law, rule, or regulation, shall be deemed to prohibit an eligible school district that receives a program grant in one year from applying for another program grant in any subsequent year. However, the roll-over of awarded program grant funds from one year to the next shall be prohibited, except as otherwise authorized pursuant to subsection e. of this section.

e. Whenever a school district receives a program grant and is unable to use all grant funds awarded thereto in a single year, due to a hardship beyond the district's control, including, but not limited to, a natural disaster or a significant transition or turnover in the financial management or staffing of the food service authorities, providers, or vendors that facilitate local food sourcing or procurement services in the district, the secretary may, upon application by the school district, authorize any remaining grant fund balance to be rolled-over and used by the district, for the same purposes, in the next school year, subject to the same rolling disbursement requirements established by subsection a. of this section. Any school district applying for roll-over funding, pursuant to this subsection, shall submit documentation sufficient to establish, to the secretary's satisfaction, that the district's failure to expend the full amount of the grant award, during the first annual disbursement period established pursuant to subsection a. of this section, is the result of a reasonable, valid, and unexpected hardship outside the district's control.

4. There is appropriated, from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture, the sum of $6,500,000, of which $5,500,000 shall be dedicated for use in issuing reimbursement grants under the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program and $1,000,000 shall be dedicated for use in financing the administrative costs incurred, by the department, in implementing the provisions of this act and the grant program established pursuant thereto, including: the costs of employing a full-time staff person to administer and manage the grant program and serve as a contact and resource for grant applicants; the costs associated with the department's outreach, and provision of appropriate training, to farmers engaged in the sale or donation of local food products to schools and school districts; and the costs associated with evaluating and monitoring local food procurement expansion progress and outcomes in association with implementation of the grant program.

5. This act shall take effect on the first day of the fourth month next following the appropriation of funds pursuant to section 4 of this act, except that the Department of Agriculture may take anticipatory administrative action, in advance of the effective date, as may be necessary to implement the provisions of this act.

STATEMENT

This bill would require the Secretary of Agriculture (secretary) to establish and operate a Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program. The purpose of the grant program would be to provide sufficient reimbursement financing to eligible school districts in the State, as necessary to allow such districts to implement or undertake expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, and activities at their own pace, and to whatever extent that such policies, standards, processes, systems, and activities are capable of being so expanded or modified, as may be necessary to increase the total number or type of local foods being procured for students, the meal periods during which such local foods are served to students, or the total number or type of students being offered such local foods, during either the school year or the summer months, or both. A school district would be eligible for a program grant if all of the schools participating in, or directly benefitting from, the district's expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, or activities (i.e., "participating schools") are schools that provide subsidized meals to eligible students.

The secretary would be authorized to annually award a program grant to each eligible school district that submits an application therefor, in accordance with the following minimum and maximum annual funding allowances: (1) a small school district, which has less than 5,000 students enrolled at participating schools, would be eligible to receive an annual program grant of not less than $10,000 and not more than $50,000; (2) a medium-sized school district, which has not less than 5,000 and not more than 10,000 students enrolled at participating schools, would be eligible to receive an annual program grant of not less than $20,000 and not more than $125,000; and (3) a large school district, which has 10,000 or more students enrolled at participating schools, would be eligible to receive an annual program grant of not less than $44,000 and not more than $250,000.

A school district that wishes to obtain a program grant would be required to submit an application as prescribed by the secretary. Among other things, the grant application would be required to: (1) identify the total number and percentage of schools, in the district, that will be participating in grant-funded local food sourcing and procurement activities; (2) identify the total number of students enrolled at participating schools in the district, and, based on such enrollment numbers, indicate whether the applicant district constitutes a small district, a medium-sized district, or a large district, for the purposes of funding determinations being made pursuant to the bill; (3) indicate the total amount of the grant award being sought by the district, within the appropriate minimum and maximum funding range established by the bill; (4) indicate whether the district, or any participating school therein, is located in a food desert area; (5) include a copy of the district's existing food procurement plan, if relevant, including baseline data specifically indicating the type and amount of local food products currently being sourced and procured for students at participating schools in the district; and (6) describe the ways in which the district proposes to use program grant funding to initiate, expand, or otherwise modify its local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, or activities, and expressly identify the expanded types or amounts of local food products that the district proposes to source and procure for students, including the name and address of each farm or other local food producer from which the local foods will be sourced.

Grants under the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program would be awarded on a competitive basis, directly to an applicant school district, within the limits of moneys appropriated or otherwise made available to the Department of Agriculture for the program's purposes. In reviewing grant applications and making funding determinations, the secretary would be required to give priority funding preference to those eligible school districts that: (1) have a high number or percentage of subsidized students enrolled at participating schools and will use awarded grant funds, in full or in part, to increase subsidized students' access to local foods; (2) are located, or have participating schools located, in a food desert area; (3) propose to expand or modify their local food procurement policies so as to require the increased sourcing and procurement of local food products produced by small or mid-sized family farms or socially disadvantaged farmers in the State; or (4) were recipients of a program grant award in one or more prior years, the full amount of which has been expended and reimbursed in compliance with all applicable requirements.

Of the program grant funds annually awarded to an eligible school district: (1) at least 80 percent of the awarded funds are to be used, by the school district, to reimburse the costs being expended by the district, by participating schools, and by district-operated or third party-contracted food service providers or vendors, in sourcing and procuring the increased types or numbers of local foods that are needed to implement the district's expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, and activities, as described in the grant application; and (2) up to 20 percent may be used, by the school district, to reimburse the costs being expended by the district, by participating schools, and by district-operated and third party-contracted food service providers or vendors, in acquiring, maintaining, repairing, replacing, or updating to appropriate equipment, materials, and supplies, or in employing or training appropriate staff, as necessary to facilitate the effective implementation of the district's expanded or modified local food procurement policies, standards, processes, systems, and activities, as described in the grant application. Program grant funds may not be used to reimburse any ineligible costs, or any eligible costs that are already being paid for or reimbursed with other State or federal funds.

Program grant funds also may not be awarded in a single, lump-sum payment, but are to be disbursed to the recipient school district on a rolling, term-limited, monthly installment basis, over the course of a single-year commencing on September 1 and ending on July 31 next following the date on which the program grant is awarded, and using a draw-down process that provides for reimbursement checks to be issued to the district within 60 days after the department receives a monthly invoice and accounting statement submitted by the district. Each monthly invoice and accounting statement is to include appropriate receipts, photos, or other documentation verifying the expenditures being accounted for therein, as well as a brief explanation detailing why such expenditures should be deemed to constitute eligible costs for the purposes of program reimbursement. Any program grant funds that are disbursed to a school district may be further allocated, by the district, to participating schools, or to district-operated or third party-contracted food service providers or vendors, in order to reimburse the eligible costs being expended thereby, as documented in the district's most recent invoice and accounting statement.

Except as otherwise provided by the bill, any program grant funds that are awarded to a school district, but which remain unclaimed at the end of the annual disbursement period, are to be reclaimed by the secretary and used to finance future grant awards under the program. An eligible school district that receives a program grant in one year may apply for another program grant in any subsequent year. However, the roll-over of awarded program grant funds from one year to the next would be prohibited, except in the case of hardship beyond the district's control. In that instance, the secretary may authorize any remaining grant fund balance to be rolled-over and used by the district, for the same purposes, in the next school year, subject to the same rolling disbursement requirements applicable to the original grant award. Any school district applying for such roll-over funding would be required to submit documentation sufficient to establish that the district's failure to expend the full amount of the grant award, during the first annual disbursement period, was the result of a reasonable, valid, and unexpected hardship outside the district's control.

The bill would appropriate $6,500,000 from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture for the bill's purposes. Of that amount, $5,500,000 would be dedicated for use in funding grant awards pursuant to the Farm to School Local Food Procurement Reimbursement Grant Program and $1,000,000 would be dedicated for use in financing the department's administrative costs.