wa-law.org > bill > 2025-26 > HB 2463 > Substitute Bill
The department must implement the Washington farm donation grant program established in this section. The purpose of the program is to procure Washington grown produce, grains, dairy, and protein otherwise at risk of ending up as food waste for distribution to hunger relief organizations for use in Washington state.
The program established in this section must, to the extent practicable:
Rely upon existing infrastructure and similar grant programs currently being implemented in Washington, in order to maximize the beneficial impacts of the program in the short-term, and to expeditiously enable the distribution of grants under this section;
Be designed to achieve efficiencies of scale by the grant recipients carrying out food acquisitions and distributions and to target large volume food acquisition opportunities;
Give priority to recipient organizations with at least five years of experience coordinating the collection and transportation of donated or contracted agricultural products to regional food bank distribution organizations, statewide food bank distribution centers, or both, for redistribution to local hunger relief agencies; and
Provide for equitable benefits experienced from the program by food producers of varying sizes and types, including minority and vulnerable farmers, including veterans, women, and federally recognized Indian tribes.
The department must issue grants under this section to one or more nonprofit organizations to acquire food directly from food producers located in Washington. A recipient nonprofit organization may use funds under this section to compensate food producers donating commodities for pick and pack out costs incurred associated with the production of a food product, including costs of food product inputs and harvest, and for their marginal postharvest logistical and administrative costs that facilitate the acquisition and distribution of the food product by grant recipients.
An organization that receives funds under this section must report the results of the project to the department in a manner prescribed by the department.
The department may adopt rules to implement this section.
The department must implement the farm-to-food pantry grant program established in this section. The purpose of the grant program is to strengthen community-based food systems by providing grant funding, contract models, and administrative support to nonprofit hunger relief organizations to facilitate direct purchasing from farmers, producers, tribes, and food hubs. The department may provide up to 25 percent of the total farm-to-food pantry grant funding at the time the grant agreement is executed.
The department will issue grant funds to a nonprofit organization whose mission is to cultivate, strengthen, and connect food system partners to ensure healthy food for people in need, who must in turn issue subaward grants under this section to nonprofit hunger relief organizations to establish wholesale contracts for direct purchasing of seafood and agricultural products from farmers, producers, tribes, and food hubs.
An organization that receives funds under this section must report to the department on the use of the funds in a manner prescribed by the department.
The department may adopt rules to implement this section.
This act may be known and cited as the Washington farmers feeding families act.