HB 399 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
A bill to be entitled 1
An act relating to food recovery; amending s. 595.420, 2
F.S.; providing definitions; directing the Department 3
of Agriculture and Consumer Services, subject to 4
legislative appropriation, to implement a pilot 5
program to provide incentives to agricultural 6
companies to sell fresh food products to food recovery 7
entities; authorizing food recovery entities to 8
negotiate the price for fresh food products and 9
reimburse agricultural companies for certain costs; 10
providing shipping requirements; requiring the 11
department to reimburse food recovery entities for 12
certain costs; providing reimbursement invoice 13
requirements; requiring the department to submit a 14
report to the Governor and Legislature by a specified 15
date and to adopt rules; providing an effective date. 16
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Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18
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Section 1. Subsection (8) is added to section 595.420, 20
Florida Statutes, to read: 21
595.420 Food recovery; legislative intent; department 22
functions.— 23
(8)(a) As used in this subsection, the term: 24
1. "Agricultural company" means a fresh food products 25
HB 399 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
producer in the state that uses a licensed shipping facility. 26
2. "Food recovery entity" means a nonp rofit association 27
engaged in food recovery and distribution that has been in 28
operation in the state for at least 10 years and has received a 29
minimum of 10 million pounds of perishable fresh food products 30
annually for at least 3 years. 31
3. "Fresh food prod ucts" means high-quality, United States 32
Department of Agriculture grade 1 standard fresh fruits, 33
vegetables, proteins, and dairy produced by an agricultural 34
company. 35
4. "Harvest ship window" means the number of days within 36
which a fresh food product can be shipped after harvest and meet 37
the United States Department of Agriculture grade 1 standard. 38
(b) Subject to legislative appropriation, the department 39
shall implement a pilot program to provide incentives to 40
agricultural companies to sell fresh food pr oducts to food 41
recovery entities. The goal of the pilot program is to have 100 42
million pounds of fresh food products sold to food recovery 43
entities annually. 44
(c)1. To provide an incentive to agricultural companies to 45
sell fresh food products to food reco very entities at a 46
discounted price, a food recovery entity may negotiate the price 47
per box or pound for fresh food products and reimburse an 48
agricultural company for all or part of the costs relating to 49
harvesting, precooling, packaging, and delivering fr esh food 50
HB 399 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
products from the farm to the licensed shipping facility . The 51
fresh food products must meet the United States Department of 52
Agriculture grade 1 standard and must be shipped within the 53
harvest ship window. 54
2. The harvest ship window for fresh food products is 7 55
days unless the food recovery entity chooses to extend the 56
window for a specific fresh food product on a case -by-case 57
basis. The harvest ship window may be extended by the food 58
recovery entity based on the expected shelf life of a particula r 59
fresh food product as long as the extended window will not 60
affect the United States Department of Agriculture grade 1 61
standard for shipping the product. The food recovery entity must 62
provide notice of an approved extended harvest ship window to 63
the agricultural company in writing, which may be delivered by 64
e-mail. 65
3. The invoice provided by the agricultural company or the 66
licensed shipping facility must include all of the following 67
information: 68
a. A signed statement that the fresh food products shipped 69
to the food recovery entity meet the harvest ship window. 70
b. Any written approval by the food recovery entity to 71
extend the harvest ship window. 72
c. The shipment order number. 73
d. The harvest and shipment dates for each fresh food 74
product. 75
HB 399 2023
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F L O R I D A H O U S E O F R E P R E S E N T A T I V E S
4. The agricultural company or the licensed shipping 76
facility must maintain records of fresh food product shipments 77
to food recovery entities under the pilot program for 2 years 78
after the shipment date. 79
5. Fresh food products from an agricultural company or 80
licensed shipping facility may be shipped to a food recovery 81
entity in packaged food boxes or bulk shipments and distributed 82
by the food recovery entity in boxes or in bulk as deemed 83
practical for food safety and packaging. 84
(e) The department shall re imburse food recovery entities 85
on a dollar-for-dollar basis for the purchase of discounted 86
fresh food products from agricultural companies plus a 10 cents 87
per box distribution reimbursement. To receive the 88
reimbursements, a food recovery entity must submit an invoice as 89
prescribed by the department, which includes, at a minimum, the 90
following information: 91
1. Name and city of the agricultural company. 92
2. Name and city of the licensed shipping facility. 93
3. Shipment date. 94
4. Date the shipment was recei ved. 95
5. Harvest date for each fresh food product. 96
6. Packaging type and size used for each fresh food 97
product. 98
7. Total units or pounds for each fresh food product. 99
8. Total price per box or pound for each fresh food 100
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product. 101
9. Total invoice pri ce paid. 102
(f) The department shall submit a report on the pilot 103
program, including recommendations for legislation, to the 104
Governor, the President of the Senate, and the Speaker of the 105
House of Representatives by January 1, 2024. 106
(g) The department shal l adopt rules to implement this 107
subsection. 108
Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023. 109