Bill > A3448

Introduced Session

This bill establishes the Food Recovery Infrastructure Grant Program (program) in the Department of Agriculture (department). The purpose of the program will be to award grants to food recovery organizations to support food recovery organizations and assist with the purchase of the equipment that is necessary to safely recover and store food obtained from food donors. The bill requires the department to administer the program and make grants available to food recovery organizations in this State to assist with the: costs of providing salaries, wages, or compensation to the organization's employees; overhead and general administrative costs of the organization; and costs of purchasing eligible equipment necessary to safely recover and store food obtained from food donors. The bill requires the department, in consultation with Office of the Food Security Advocate, to develop an application by which a food recovery organization may apply for a grant, and criteria by which to evaluate the applications received by the department, and to select grant awardees from those applications. The department will provide notice of the availability of funding under the grant program and make the application available on the department's Internet website. A food recovery organization seeking to participate in the grant program will be required to submit an application in a form and manner determined by the department. A grant awarded pursuant to the bill will be in an amount determined by the department, not to exceed $50,000 and subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury. The bill authorizes the department to utilize any combination of available funding from various sources to provide grants under the program. In awarding grants under the program, the department will expend any available forms of non-State financial assistance before expending State funds. The bill appropriates from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture such sums as are necessary to effectuate the purposes of the bill. In 2022, food banks in New Jersey distributed over 125 million pounds of food and provided over 100 million meals through various feeding agencies, including soup kitchens, food pantries, and shelters. Each year the New Jersey Food Distribution Program provides more than 40 million pounds of United States Department of Agriculture-donated food commodities to over 1,000 recipient agencies and feeding programs. It is the sponsor's belief that ensuring the proper storage and preservation of food throughout the food recovery supply chain will result in the distribution of fresher and more nutritious food to people in this State who are food insecure.

AI Summary

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Alex Sauickie (R)*, 

Introduced, Referred to Assembly Children, Families and Food Security Committee (on 02/01/2024)

Official Document