Authorizes the commissioner of education, in cooperation with the commissioner of agriculture and markets, to establish voluntary guidelines to provide for the donation of excess, unused, edible food from school, university or other educational institutions' meal programs to voluntary food assistance programs.
STATE OF NEW YORK
________________________________________________________________________
2409--B
2017-2018 Regular Sessions
IN ASSEMBLY
January 20, 2017
___________
Introduced by M. of A. ORTIZ, COOK, GALEF, ROSENTHAL, HARRIS -- Multi-
Sponsored by -- M. of A. CAHILL, FARRELL, LUPARDO, MAGEE -- read once
and referred to the Committee on Education -- committee discharged,
bill amended, ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said
committee -- again reported from said committee with amendments,
ordered reprinted as amended and recommitted to said committee
AN ACT to amend the agriculture and markets law and the education law,
in relation to authorizing school districts and institutions of higher
education to donate excess food to local voluntary food assistance
programs
The People of the State of New York, represented in Senate and Assem-bly, do enact as follows:
1 Section 1. Section 16 of the agriculture and markets law is amended by
2 adding a new subdivision 5-c to read as follows:
3 5-c. Cooperate with the commissioner of education, pursuant to subdi-
4 vision fifty-six of section three hundred five of the education law, to
5 develop guidelines for the voluntary implementation by school districts
6 and institutions of higher education of programs which encourage the
7 donation of excess, unused, edible food from meals served at such educa-
8 tional facilities to local voluntary food assistance programs.
9 § 2. Section 305 of the education law is amended by adding a new
10 subdivision 56 to read as follows:
11 56. The commissioner, in consultation and cooperation with the commis-
12 sioner of agriculture and markets, may develop guidelines to encourage
13 school districts and institutions of higher education to donate excess,
14 unused, edible food from meals served at such educational facilities to
15 local voluntary food assistance programs including, but not limited to,
16 community food pantries, soup kitchens, and other community and not-for-
17 profit organizations that distribute food to the poor and disadvantaged.
18 Such guidelines developed concerning donated food shall comply with all
EXPLANATION--Matter in italics (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
[] is old law to be omitted.
LBD07734-04-7
A. 2409--B 2
1 federal, state and local public health laws, rules and regulations that
2 govern food safety and food donation.
3 Such guidelines may include, but not be limited to:
4 a. a procedure to provide information to school districts, insti-
5 tutions of higher education and local voluntary food assistance programs
6 of the provisions of such guidelines;
7 b. notification to educational institutions of their ability to elect
8 to donate excess, unused, edible food to local voluntary food assistance
9 programs; and
10 c. information and technical assistance on how school districts and
11 institutions of higher education may best donate excess food in a safe
12 and sanitary manner.
13 The commissioner shall coordinate the implementation of such guide-
14 lines with the farm-to-school program established pursuant to subdivi-
15 sion five-b of section sixteen of the agriculture and markets law.
16 § 3. This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after
17 it shall have become a law.
