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Assembly committee backs resolution urging protection of federal farm-to-school funding
Summary
The Assembly Agriculture Committee voted unanimously to adopt AJR 6, a resolution asking federal officials to restore and protect funding for programs that buy California-grown food for school and childcare meals.
The California State Assembly Committee on Agriculture voted to adopt Assembly Joint Resolution 6 (AJR 6), a measure asking federal officials to preserve funding for Local Food for Schools programs that buy California-grown produce for K–12 and childcare meal programs.
AJR 6’s author, Assemblymember Aguiar‑Curry, told the committee the federal program supported purchases of fresh, locally grown food in 2022 and 2023 that totaled more than $23,000,000 and reached 319 school districts in California. “For many kids, school meals in this program are their only meal of the day,” Aguiar‑Curry said in opening remarks.
The resolution calls on federal representatives to restore funding the witnesses said has been cut. Shane Zirilgan, co‑owner of Fiery Ginger Farm and co‑founder of Spork Food Hub, described his operation’s work aggregating produce from more than 70 family farms for more than 30 school districts and said the program is an economic multiplier. “Local Food for Schools is also an economic multiplier program,” Zirilgan said, reiterating testimony that local purchases return additional economic activity to rural communities.
Diana Flores, executive director of School Nutrition and the Central Kitchen at Sacramento City Unified School District, told the committee that partnerships enabled by the funding let districts buy from nearby growers — naming several local suppliers — and that farm closures in recent years make such investments urgent. Flores said an estimated 15,000 family farms have closed in the last 13 years in California, and that restoring federal funding would benefit both students and growers.
Public witnesses and organizations, including the California School Employees Association, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, and others, registered support. Aguiar‑Curry closed by urging members to vote aye, citing research the author cited that every dollar invested in local food systems returns an additional $2.16 in economic activity.
The committee recorded a roll call vote with members present voting aye (Soria; Alanis; Aguiar‑Curry; Hadwick; Irwin; Ransom; Connelly; Gonzales). The motion was recorded as adopted by the committee; the clerk left the roll call open for absent members before finalizing the committee record.
