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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 food recovery 6
entities to negotiate the price for fresh food 7
products; providing shipping requirements; authorizing 8
food recovery entities to reject certain fresh food 9
products; requiring the department to reimburse food 10
recovery entities for certain costs; providing 11
reimbursement requirements; requiring the department 12
to submit reports to the Governor and Legislature by 13
specified dates and to adopt rules; providing for 14
expiration of the pilot program; providing an 15
appropriation; providing an effective date. 16
17
Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida: 18
19
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. "Food producer" means an agricultural company, or their 25
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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
associated shipper, that produces fresh food products in the 26
state. 27
2. "Food recovery entity" means a nonprofit association 28
engaged in food recovery and distribution that has at least 10 29
years of operation in the state and has received a minimum of 10 30
million pounds of perishable fresh food products annually for 31
the last 3 years. 32
3. "Fresh food products " means high-quality fresh fruits, 33
vegetables, proteins, and dairy produced by a food producer that 34
are delivered to their final destination for charitable 35
distribution and meet United States Department of Agriculture 36
commodity standards and grades upon su ch delivery. 37
(b) Subject to legislative appropriation, the department 38
shall implement a pilot program for food recovery entities to 39
negotiate a discounted price for fresh food products so that the 40
fresh food products can be exclusively distributed for 41
charitable purposes to relieve human hunger in the state. 42
(c) Food recovery entities must negotiate and pay a 43
discounted price to a food producer for the purchase of food 44
products. The harvest or processing date and the current market 45
price of each fresh f ood product purchased and the shipment 46
destination must be included by invoice, bill of lading, or 47
other documents from the food producer to the food recovery 48
entity. 49
(d) Food recovery entities may reject any fresh food 50
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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
product that does not meet the qua lity standards of the food 51
recovery entity. 52
(e) The department shall reimburse a food recovery entity 53
for each negotiated purchase of fresh food products and an 54
additional 2 cents per pound of fresh food products purchased 55
for costs to deliver and distri bute the fresh food products for 56
charitable purposes. To receive reimbursement, a food recovery 57
entity must: 58
1. Certify in writing that: 59
a. The fresh food products meet the quality standards of 60
the food recovery entity. 61
b. The purchased fresh food products will not be sold to 62
wholesale, retail, or secondary markets for monetary gain. 63
2. Submit an invoice as prescribed by the department, 64
which includes the following information: 65
a. Shipment date. 66
b. Shipment location by shipper and city. 67
c. Number of packages shipped and the price for each fresh 68
food product. 69
d. Total price paid for each fresh food product. 70
e. Total invoice price paid. 71
f. Total pounds shipped by measured weight or by estimate 72
of the fresh food product. 73
(f) The department shall submit reports on the pilot 74
program to the Governor, the President of the Senate, and the 75
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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
Speaker of the House of Representatives by January 1, 2025, and 76
by January 1, 2026. The reports must include all of the 77
following: 78
1. Each fresh food produ ct by package size, total number 79
of packages, and average price per package. 80
2. Each fresh food product by total pounds and total 81
average price per pound. 82
3. Total dollars total spent on each fresh food product 83
and total dollars spent on all fresh food products. 84
(g) The department shall adopt rules to implement this 85
subsection. 86
(h) This subsection expires on January 1, 2026. 87
Section 2. For the 2024-2025 fiscal year, the sum of $5 88
million in nonrecurring funds from the General Revenue Fund is 89
appropriated to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer 90
Services to implement the pilot program under s. 595.420(8), 91
Florida Statutes. 92
Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2024. 93