Section 49000 Of Chapter 12. Office Of Farm To Fork From California Food And Agricultural Code >> Division 17. >> Chapter 12.
49000
. The Legislature finds and declares all of the following:
(a) There are many Californians who lack adequate access to
healthy food.
(b) The lack of access to healthy food falls disproportionately on
disadvantaged urban and rural communities.
(c) These same communities also suffer from an increased rate of
obesity, diabetes, and other chronic health conditions related to
poor diet.
(d) Facilitating access to healthy food in these communities is
needed to address the gaps in the food distribution system and help
mitigate the health consequences of this inadequacy.
(e) There are many county, state, federal, and private
organizations attempting to address this issue, but there is no
state-level body charged with coordinating these activities.
(f) A state-level office, charged with coordinating and
facilitating food access, can increase the effectiveness of ongoing
programs and ensure that efforts and funding are not duplicated.
(g) The Department of Food and Agriculture is uniquely situated to
administer this office because of the department's knowledge of the
agricultural industry, and its ability to bring farmers together with
hunger relief organizations, partner agencies, schools, colleges,
community organizations, and others to increase the availability of
healthy food.