BILL NUMBER: S8884

SPONSOR: ALCANTARA
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the agriculture and markets law, in
relation to requiring supermarkets to make surplus food available to
qualifying charities

 
PURPOSE OR GENERAL IDEA OF BILL:

This legislation is designed to increase food donations to food banks
and other providers who feed the needy and to help reduce solid food
waste in landfills which create dangerous emissions.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 of the bill amends the agricultural and markets law by adding
a new article 16-C to establish the "Surplus Food to Charitable Organ-
izations Act." The Act provides the following:

1. The legislative intent.

              

2. Definitions as used in this article, including:

(a) "Excess food" means edible food that is not sold or used by a super-
market;

(b) "Qualifying charities" means a religious, charitable or not-for-pro-
fit organization which provides food at no cost to the poor, needy,
disadvantaged or at-risk persons, including a food pantry, soup kitchen
or community based organization that provides food at no costs to such
persons; and

(c) "Supermarket" means a retail store at a given location which has
more than ten thousand square feet devoted to the sale of food and
groceries for human consumption.

3. Availability requirement.

(a) Every supermarket shall make a reasonable effort to make available a
qualifying charity, surplus food which the supermarket from time to time
has in its possession.

(b) No supermarket shall be required to make available a particular
quantity or level of surplus food or to transport or distribute any
surplus food in connection with this article.

(c) A supermarket may, in accordance with any applicable laws, dispose
of surplus food which is not timely collected by a qualifying charity.

(d) A supermarket shall be deemed in compliance with this section if, in
good faith, it arranges with one or more qualifying charities that have
requested in writing to collect surplus food for the collection of such
surplus food.

(e) A supermarket may impose restrictions to ensure that the retrieval
of surplus food does not interfere with its business operations.

4. Exclusions.

(a) Surplus food shall not include fresh milk, fresh meat, fish or poul-
try; food damaged by storage conditions; pests, mold, bacteria or other
contamination; food offered for sale from a hot, cold or prepared food
bar; food subject to recall; food returned to a supplier; food donated
to a qualifying charity; food sold to a food remarketer or restaurant or
other preparer of food for human consumption or sold to a farmer or
other producer.

(b) Supermarkets shall not include, hotels, motels, restaurants and
cafeterias, bakeries, caterers, hospitals, assisted and independent
living facilities, nursing homes, hospices, group homes, drug stores,
educational institutions, food courts in shopping malls, food retailers
at airports or other transportation facilities, gas stations, sports
arenas, or movie theaters or any other similar establishments.

4. Immunity from liability. No supermarket, qualifying charity, or any
employee, officer, shareholder, partner, agent, volunteer or religious
leader thereof who provides, makes available, distributes or otherwise
facilitates the distribution of surplus food as provided in this arti-
cle, shall be liable to any person for damages for injuries or death
alleged to have been sustained as a result of the condition of such
surplus food, unless caused by the gross negligence or intentional
conduct of such entity or individual.

5. Construction. Nothing in this article shall supersede any state or
federal health laws or regulations regarding the handling of foods.

Section 2 is the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Hunger in the U.S. and our state is a serious problem. An estimated 50
million Americans, including nearly 16 million children, do not have
sufficient food. Meanwhile, 60 - 100 million tons of edible food is
discarded in the United States, primarily to solid waste landfills.
Decomposition of organic waste accounts for over 15 percent of our
nation's emissions of methane, a potent greenhouse gas.

Hunger and food insecurity - the uncertainty of having, or inability to
acquire, enough food to meet household food needs exists in every county
in our state. An estimated 2.8 million New Yorkers (over 14%) are facing
hunger and food insecurity. Moreover, a significant number of those
households do not qualify for federal nutrition assistance.

As noted in the Food Bank for Westchester Food Dating Guide, the majori-
ty of food items that are close to or past the indicated date on their
packages are still safe for consumption. This includes items passed the
"expiration date," "sell by date," "use by date" and "pack date."  These
codes are used by manufacturers to ensure that consumers receive their
product in peak quality. Supermarkets regularly dispose of these unused
food items and most are of good quality and safe to eat. This legis-
lation will provide a process for qualifying charities to make arrange-
ments to collect surplus food from supermarkets in order to provide this
food for free to the needy.

While supermarkets of a certain size are required to participate, they
are not required to provide a particular quantity of food or transport
or distribute it. Qualifying organizations must make a written request
for the surplus food and arrange to collect the food at a date and time
arranged with the supermarket. Not only will there be no cost to partic-
ipating supermarkets - there may be savings - since supermarkets will no
longer have to pay to have surplus food collected and discarded.

Finally, supermarkets, qualifying charities, their employees and others
who make available or otherwise distribute surplus food under this law,
are protected from liability for any injuries alleged to be sustained by
a person with respect to the condition of the surplus food unless caused
by the gross negligence or intentional conduct of such entity or indi-
vidual.

Making excess food available to qualifying charities that feed the
hungry will go a long way to help address food insecurity in our state
without additional costs to participating supermarkets. In addition, the
donation of surplus food will also reduce food waste disposed of in
solid waste landfills which create dangerous emissions.

 
PRIOR LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS FOR STATE AND LOCAL GOVERNMENTS:

None.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect on the one hundred eightieth day after it
shall have become law. Effective immediately the addition, amendment
and/or repeal of any rule and regulation necessary for the implementa-
tion of this act on its effective date are authorized to be made on or
before such date.