State Healthy Food Access Policy.

Senator Hurtado's proposal to modify California's food access policy would add "locally grown and raised" to the state's declaration that every person has the right to access sufficient, affordable, and healthy food. The amendment maintains the existing framework requiring state agencies to consider this policy when developing regulations and grant criteria related to food distribution.

The bill preserves the current definition of food insecurity as the occasional or constant lack of access to healthy food due to insufficient resources. It continues to apply to the same set of state agencies, including the Departments of Social Services, Food and Agriculture, Health Care Services, Education, and Public Health. The legislation explicitly states that it does not create new state obligations or require additional expenditures for food infrastructure development.

This modification to Section 18700 of the Welfare and Institutions Code would require relevant agencies to incorporate local food sourcing considerations into their existing policies and programs while maintaining current funding levels and operational structures. The amendment adds a geographic dimension to California's food access policy without altering its core mechanisms or expanding state responsibilities.