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Title V — Horticulture

S. 679 · 113th Congress · Apr 9, 2013 · Lineage

V Horticulture

Sec. 501 Farmers market and local food promotion program

Section 6 of the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976 (7 U.S.C. 3005) is amended—
(1)
in the section heading, by adding “and local food” after “market”;
(2)
in subsection (a)—
(A)
by inserting “and Local Food” after “Market”;
(B)
by striking “farmers’ markets and to promote”; and
(C)
by inserting “and local food capacity development” before the period at the end;
(3)
in subsection (b), by striking paragraph (1) and inserting the following:

“(1) In general—The purposes of the Program are to increase domestic consumption of and access to locally and regionally produced agricultural products by developing, improving, expanding, and providing outreach, training, and technical assistance to, or assisting in the development, improvement and expansion of—

“(A) domestic farmers’ markets, roadside stands, community-supported agriculture programs, agritourism activities, and other direct producer-to-consumer market opportunities; and

“(B) local and regional food enterprises that are not direct producer-to-consumer markets but process, distribute, aggregate, store, and market locally or regionally produced food products.”

(4)
in subsection (c)(1)—
(A)
by inserting “or other agricultural business entity” after “cooperative”; and
(B)
by inserting “, including a community supported agriculture network or association” after “association”;
(5)
by redesignating subsection (e) as subsection (f);
(6)
by inserting after subsection (d) the following new subsection:

“(e) Priorities—In providing grants under the Program, priority shall be given to applications that include projects that—

“(1) benefit underserved communities;

“(2) develop market opportunities for small and mid-sized farm and ranch operations; and

“(3) include a strategic plan to maximize the use of funds to build capacity for local and regional food systems in a community.”

(7)
in subsection (f) (as redesignated by paragraph (5))—
(A)
in paragraph (1)—
(i)
in the heading, by striking “Fiscal years 2008 through 2012” and inserting “Commodity Credit Corporation funding for fiscal years 2008 through 2012 and 2014 through 2018”;
(ii)
in subparagraph (B), by striking “and” after the semicolon at the end;
(iii)
in subparagraph (C), by striking the period at the end and inserting “; and”; and
(iv)
by adding at the end the following:

“(D) $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018.”

(B)
by striking paragraphs (2) and (4);
(C)
by redesignating paragraph (3) as paragraph (4);
(D)
by inserting after paragraph (1) the following new paragraphs:

“(2) Authorization of appropriations—In addition to funds made available under paragraph (1), there is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $20,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2013 through 2018.

“(3) Use of funds

“(A) In general—Of the funds made available to carry out the Program for each fiscal year, to the maximum extent practicable, 50 percent shall be used for the purposes described in subsection (b)(1)(A) and 50 percent shall be used for the purposes described in subsection (b)(1)(B).

“(B) Cost share—To be eligible to receive a grant for a project described in subsection (b)(1)(B), a recipient shall provide a match in the form of cash or in-kind contributions in an amount equal to 25 percent of the total cost of the project.”

(E)
by adding at the end the following new paragraphs:

“(5) Administrative expenses—Not more than 10 percent of the total amount made available to carry out this section for a fiscal year may be used for administrative expenses.

“(6) Limitations—An eligible entity may not use a grant or other assistance provided under the Program for the purchase, construction, or rehabilitation of a building or structure.”

Sec. 502 Specialty crop block grants

(a)
Definitions— Section 3 of the Specialty Crops Competitiveness Act of 2004 (7 U.S.C. 1621 note) is amended—
(1)
by redesignating paragraphs (1), (2), and (3) as paragraphs (2), (3), and (4), respectively; and
(2)
by inserting before paragraph (2), as redesignated by paragraph (1) of this subsection, the following new paragraph:

“(1) The term locally or regionally produced food has the meaning given the term locally or regionally produced agricultural food products in section 310B(g)(9)(A)(i) of the Consolidated Farm and Rural Development Act (7 U.S.C. 1932(g)(9)(A)(i)).”

(b)
Availability and purposes of grants— Subsection (a) of section 101 of such Act is amended—
(1)
in the heading, by striking “purpose” and inserting “purposes”;
(2)
by striking “2005 through 2012” and inserting “2013 through 2018”; and
(3)
by striking “solely to enhance” and all that follows and inserting “to increase the consumption and availability of specialty crops, including those that are locally or regionally produced, and to increase the profitability, ecological sustainability, and competitiveness of specialty crop production.”.
(c)
Preference— Such section 101 is further amended—
(1)
by redesignating subsections (g), (h), (i), and (j) as subsections (i), (j), (k), and (m), respectively; and
(2)
by inserting after subsection (f) the following new subsection:

“(g) Preference—In using grant funds provided under this section, the State receiving the grant shall give a preference to proposals that demonstrate ability to have direct positive impact on—

“(1) farm profitability and sustainability;

“(2) improved distribution capacity for locally or regionally produced foods; or

“(3) increased domestic consumption and affordability of edible specialty crops, particularly in low-income communities; and”

(d)
Transparency— Such section 101 is further amended by inserting after subsection (g), as added by subsection (c) of this section, the following new subsection:

“(h) Transparency—Each State receiving a grant under this section shall, in a timely manner, publish on an Internet website summary information about all grants received under this section and reports on the implementation of projects funded by such grants.”

(e)
Use of grant funds— Such section 101 is further amended by inserting after subsection (k), as redesignated by subsection (e)(1) of this section, the following new subsection:

“(l) Use of grant funds—The Secretary shall consider expansion of the grant program under this section to include traditional foods of federally recognized Indian tribes and other minority communities and may publish appropriate guidance to States receiving grants under this section regarding any such expansion.”

Sec. 503 Study on local food production and program evaluation

(a)
In general— The Secretary shall—
(1)
collect data on the production and marketing of locally or regionally produced agricultural food products;
(2)
facilitate interagency collaboration and data sharing on programs related to local and regional food systems; and
(3)
monitor the effectiveness of programs designed to expand or facilitate local food systems.
(b)
Requirements— In carrying out this section, the Secretary shall—
(1)
collect and distribute comprehensive reporting of prices of locally or regionally produced agricultural food products;
(2)
conduct surveys and analysis and publish reports relating to the production, handling, distribution, retail sales, and trend studies (including consumer purchasing patterns) of or on locally or regionally produced agricultural food products;
(3)
evaluate the effectiveness of existing programs in growing local and regional food systems, including—
(A)
the impact of local food systems on job creation and economic development;
(B)
the level of participation in the Farmers' Market and Local Food Promotion Program established under section 6 of the Farmer-to-Consumer Direct Marketing Act of 1976 (7 U.S.C. 3005), including the percentage of projects funded in comparison to applicants and the types of eligible entities receiving funds;
(C)
the ability for participants to leverage private capital and a synopsis of the places from which non-Federal funds are derived; and
(D)
any additional resources required to aid in the development or expansion of local and regional food systems;
(4)
expand the Agricultural Resource Management Survey to include questions on locally or regionally produced agricultural food products;
(5)
seek to establish or expand private-public partnerships to facilitate, to the maximum extent practicable, the collection of data on locally or regionally produced agricultural food products, including the development of a nationally coordinated and regionally balanced evaluation of the redevelopment of locally or regionally produced food systems;
(6)
form an interagency work group that includes representatives from—
(A)
the Agricultural Marketing Service;
(B)
the Agricultural Research Service;
(C)
the Economic Research Service;
(D)
the Food and Nutrition Service;
(E)
the Food Safety and Inspection Service;
(F)
the National Agricultural Statistics Service;
(G)
the National Institute of Food and Agriculture; and
(H)
other agencies that are involved in data collection and research on locally or regionally produced agricultural food products; and
(7)
authorize the National Agricultural Statistics Service to create and administer—
(A)
a follow up survey to the Census of Agriculture to collect detailed data on producers who indicated that the producers sell to markets for locally or regionally produced agricultural food products; and
(B)
a survey for the purpose of collecting market data, including sales by product type and supply chain or sourcing data, from all vendors, including retail and wholesale vendors, of locally and regionally produced agricultural food products.
(c)
Report— Not later than one year after the date of enactment of this Act, and annually thereafter until September 30, 2018, the Secretary shall submit to the Committee on Agriculture of the House of Representatives and the Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition, and Forestry of the Senate a report describing the progress that has been made in implementing this section and identifying any additional needs related to developing local and regional food systems.
(d)
Funding—
(1)
In general— Of the funds of the Commodity Credit Corporation, the Secretary shall use to carry out this section $5,000,000, to remain available until expended.
(2)
Additional funding— In addition to the funds made available under (1), there are authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2014 through 2018, to remain available until expended.