CFFN members, representing the diversity of food & farming issues facing the state from hunger and nutrition to farmer livelihood and food chain worker protections, collectively identify policies important for the state’s food and farming system. Seven value-aligned pieces of legislation were then chosen by our grassroots leaders’ Steering Council as priority legislation that build people power to move us toward a thriving, equitable food system across four pillars: agroecological farming, healthy food access, farmworker & food chain worker advancement, and regional food ecosystems.
We ask Legislators to consider these pieces of legislation to ensure California’s policies contribute to the creation of an inclusive, equitable, and ecologically regenerative food and farming system that has recognized and repaired injustices to Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) workers, producers and communities, and which generates healthy, affordable, accessible, nutritious and culturally appropriate food and other agricultural products.
2026 Priority Food + Farm Legislation
Priority Bills in Support
Healthy Food Access
AB 1049 (Rodriguez)– California Food Assistance Program – Sponsor Deeming Removes sponsor deeming from the eligibility determination process for the California Food Assistance Program (CFAP), streamlining enrollment into food benefits and reducing the chilling effect for sponsored immigrants as part of the Food4All campaign. (Co-Sponsors: Nourish CA and CA Immigrant Policy Center)
AB 2299 (Calderon)– California Anti-Hunger Response & Employment/Training (CARET) Act Will provide state-funded benefits for the ~665,000 Californians at risk of being cut off of CalFresh in 2026-27 due to the discriminatory federal work requirement time limit rules (Co-Sponsors: California Association of Food Banks, Grace/End Child Poverty California, Western Center on Law and Poverty, Public Interest Law Project, and Coalition of California Welfare Rights Organization)
Regional Food Ecosystems
AB 1857 (Aguiar-Curry)– Grocery Store Access Act | Fact sheet Prohibits restrictive covenants that limit grocery and supermarket use in order to expand food access, reduce food deserts, and improve food affordability and health outcomes. (Co-sponsors: CFFN steward by our Regional Food Ecosystem Working Group and Economic Security California Action)
Agroecological Farming
AB 1731 (Wilson)– Healthy Food Procurement Fund Program Directs the Office of Farm to Fork to establish an approved vendor program and procurement fund by 2028 to expand K–12 schools’ access to whole or minimally processed, California-grown foods produced using climate-smart agriculture practices. (Co-sponsors: California Certified Organic Farmers and Fullwell)
Local Food Purchase Assistance Program (LFPA), Farms Together, Budget Priority (Assm. Pellerin, Sen. Hurtado) A values-based procurement program that invests in and connects small farmers and food hubs with local food banks. Seeking $45 million in General Funds for CDFA to sustain a previously $100 million federally-funded program threatening to collapse small farm businesses (Co-sponsors: California Association of Food Banks, Community Alliance with Family Farmers, and Fresh Approach)
Land Access for Socially Disadvantaged and Beginning Farmers Program (Assm Wilson) A re-attempt via the budget process of last year’s CFFN priority: AB 524 (Wilson) – Farmland Access and Conservation for Thriving Communities Act). Seeking statutory language to guide Proposition 4 Climate Bond Investments that will provide financial or technical resources to support farmers with land tenure through a new program at the Dept of Conservation; requesting $15 million from Prop 4 (Sponsor: Community Alliance with Family Farmers as a steward of the Land Equity Collective)
Farmworker Advancement
AB 2227 (Connolly)– Farm Labor Contractors Makes more money available to farmworkers who have suffered wage theft by ensuring workers can access funds through the surety bond farm labor contractors are required to purchase to be licensed with the CA Labor Commissioner’s Office. Sponsor: California Farmworker Coalition
Support for Additional Food and Farming Bills
SB 881 (McNerney) – Farm to Food Bank Tax Credit and Emergency Food for Families Fund Extension– Extends the Farm to Food Bank Tax Credit and Emergency Food for Families Fund to 2037.
AB 1734 (Stefani) – Count Hunger Act– Makes sure questions about food insecurity are included and funded in the California Health Interview Survey (CHIS).
AB 2564 (Ward) – Surveillance pricing– Would prohibit businesses from using personal consumer information to adjust the price of goods based on their individualized data profile, a practice known as surveillance pricing.
AB 2100 (Connolly) – Alternative Manure Management Program Task Force and Permit Efficiency– Streamlines dairy producers’ transition from wet manure management to dry manure management, a more climate-friendly approach.
AB 52 (Aguiar-Curry) – Farmer equity: advisory committees– Establishes two advisory committees, known as the Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) Producer Advisory Committee and the Small-Scale Producer Advisory Committee within CDFA.
AB 2213 (Lee) – California Healthy Food Financing Initiative– Creates the California Healthy Food Financing Initiative (CHFFI) Council (Council) and establishes the CHFFI Fund (Fund) within the State Treasury to expand access to healthy food and eliminate food deserts in underserved communities.
AB 1603 (Schultz) – Phasing Out PFAS– Phases out the production, use, and sale of Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in California by 2035.
AB 2184 (Wilson) – The Nature-Based Climate Solutions and Sustainable Agricultural Practices Funding Bill– Provides funding for climate-smart programs such as Alternative Manure Management Program (AMMP), SWEEP, and Healthy Soils / Organic Transition.
Rotten Bills in Opposition
AB 2171 (Patterson) – CalFresh Purchase Restrictions – OPPOSE Would have prohibited CalFresh recipients from using benefits to purchase sweetened drinks and candy.
SB 1134 (Stickland)– CalFresh Purchase Restrictions –OPPOSE Would have prohibited CalFresh recipients from using benefits to purchase candy, energy drinks, prepared desserts, and sodas.
SB 1419 (Alvarado-Gil)– Gutting the Farmer Equity Act –OPPOSE Would have rewritten the definition of socially disadvantaged farmers and ranchers—replacing clear, race-conscious language rooted in documented historical injustice with vague economic criteria, creating new administrative burdens and privacy concerns for farmers.
Ally Bills in Support
Ally bills are bills outside of explicit food and farming issues that either align with our stated values or values-based outcomes, impact the same communities most impacted by the food and farming system, or address a systemic issue that the food and farming system is bound by. CFFN understands that food and farming issues don’t happen in a vacuum; our issues shape and are shaped by other sectors. Supporting ally bills allows us to address shared root causes and support issues important to our BIPOC partners.
AB 2170 (Boerner) – The Families and Neighborhood Safety Act Strengthens CEQA to improve environmental protections and community participation in decisions affecting health and environment, particularly for California’s most pollution-burdened communities.
AB 2495 (Kalra) – Immigration-Related Coercion Clarifies existing retaliation protections to deter employers from using immigration-related threats to silence workers from reporting workplace violations.
AB 1790 (Connolly) – Corporations Tax: Water’s-Edge Election Closes a loophole allowing multinational corporations to avoid California taxes on profits made in the state, restoring an estimated $3–4 billion annually to the general fund.
AB 1776 (Aguiar-Curry) – The COMPETE Act Expands California antitrust law so that a single firm — not just colluding monopolies — can be held liable for anti-competitive behavior, giving small businesses and consumers greater ability to bring cases in state court.
AB 1633 (Haney) – Taxation: Private Detention Facilities Levies a 50% tax on profits of private immigration detention centers in California and reinvests revenue into immigration-related services.
