SESSION OF 2024
SUPPLEMENTAL NOTE ON HOUSE BILL NO. 2564
As Amended by House Committee on
Agriculture and Natural Resources

Brief*
HB 2564, as amended, would create the Kansas Farm-
to-Food Bank Program Act (Act) and establish the Kansas
Farm-to-Food Bank Program (Program) within the Kansas
Department of Agriculture (KDA).

Definitions
The bill would create definitions for terms used in the
Act, including:
● “Agricultural entity,” which would mean a grower,
producer, or processor of Kansas agricultural food
products;
● “Food bank,” which would mean a public or
charitable institution that maintains an established
operation involving the provision of food to food
pantries, soup kitchens, hunger relief centers, or
other feeding programs that, as an integral part of
their normal activities, provide meals or food to
needy persons;
● “Kansas agricultural food product,” which would
mean food that has been grown, raised, or
produced in Kansas;

____________________
*Supplemental notes are prepared by the Legislative Research
Department and do not express legislative intent. The supplemental
note and fiscal note for this bill may be accessed on the Internet at
http://www.kslegislature.org
 ● “Kansas emergency food system,” which would
mean food pantries, soup kitchens, hunger relief
centers, or other feeding programs that, as an
integral part of their normal activities, provide
meals or food to needy persons; and
● “Program participant,” which would mean a food
bank that receives Kansas agricultural food
products under the Program to be distributed to
food pantries, soup kitchens, hunger relief centers,
or other feeding programs that provide meals or
food to needy persons.
Kansas Farm-to-Food Bank Program
The bill would establish the Program within the KDA to
help expand the availability of nutritious, locally grown, raised,
or produced food for the Kansas emergency food system
(food system).
The Program would acquire Kansas agricultural food
products (food) from agricultural producers and distribute the
food to the food system. The food distributed under the
Program would be required to be safe for human
consumption and only distributed within the state.
The bill would allow the Program to use funds to
purchase or facilitate the donation of food, including, but not
limited to, harvesting, packing, and transportation.
The Program could also distribute funds to food banks
with the infrastructure to accept, store, and distribute food
through the food system in compliance with all government
health and food safety requirements. The bill would allow
food to be sourced directly from producers if it meets
Program requirements.


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 The bill would subject the Program to appropriation and
would dedicate no less than 75.0 percent of available funds to
acquiring and distributing food.

Food Banks
The bill would require the Secretary of Agriculture
(Secretary) to engage food banks to administer the Program.
Participating food banks would be required to:
● Collectively cover every county of the state and
distribute food to food pantries and soup kitchens
without duplication; and
● Pass a scored, third-party food safety audit and
adhere to all government health and food safety
regulations.
In addition, participating food banks would be prohibited
from assessing fees on recipient distribution sites, programs,
individuals, or households receiving food from the Program.
The bill would require the Secretary, in administering the
Program, to:
● Build relationships with agricultural entities;
● Assess the needs of food-insecure Kansans;
● Coordinate the acquisition of food and distribute
those to the food system; and
● Issue an annual report that summarizes the
Program’s activities from the prior calendar year.
The bill would authorize the Secretary to promulgate
rules and regulations to carry out the provisions of the Act,
including, but not limited to:

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 ● Eligible costs related to acquisition and distribution
of food, including, but not limited to, harvesting,
packing, and transportation;
● Health and safety requirements for Program
participants, farmers, and transportation;
● Food quality standards;
● Contracting requirements and purchasing options;
and
● Data collection, evaluation, and annual plan and
reporting requirements.
Sunset
The bill would state the Act will expire on July 1, 2025.

Background
The bill was introduced by the House Committee on
Appropriations at the request of an individual on behalf of the
Kansas Food and Farm Coalition.

House Committee on Agriculture and Natural Resources
In the House Committee hearing, the Deputy Secretary
of Agriculture; a representative of Harvesters–The
Community Food Network, Kansas Food Bank, and Second
Harvest Community Food Bank; and representatives of
Juniper Hill Farms (Lawrence) and Leafy Green Farms
(Pittsburg) provided proponent testimony, stating Kansas
farmers feed the world, but the Program would allow them to
feed their neighbors.
The proponents stated the proposed Program will
establish, at the state level, the federally funded program that
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KDA has been administering for the last two years (U.S.
Department of Agriculture, Agriculture Marketing Service’s
Local Food Purchase Assistance Program). With federal
grant moneys, KDA partnered with a distributor and two food
banks to purchase locally grown and processed food from 22
Kansas producers in the first year, which resulted in the
purchase of $2.4 million of local food distributed to 375 food
banks in 187 cities across 98 counties. KDA received an
additional federal grant for 2024, after which time the federal
grant program will end. The proponents stated that providing
fresh, local, and healthy food to community food banks
benefits the producer and their community members.
Written-only proponent testimony was provided by
representatives of AJ Honey Farms, LLC (Salina), Kansas
Farm Bureau, Kansas Food and Farm Coalition, and Kansas
Rural Center.
Written-only opponent testimony was provided by two
members of the public, who stated generally that the bill will
not solve drug addiction, illegal immigration, job insecurity, or
economic insecurity, and the fiscal note for the bill will only
result in more state funding for the Program that will not
address the root causes of homelessness. The opponents
also stated the bill would increase the homelessness
population in Kansas with people coming from other states.
No other testimony was provided.
The House Committee added a sunset date of July 1,
2025, for the Act.

Fiscal Information
According to the fiscal note prepared by the Division of
the Budget on the bill, as introduced, the KDA estimates that
enactment of the bill would increase total expenditures by
$1.0 million, all from the State General Fund, which would
fund state grants to eligible organizations. The KDA notes
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that funding for the Program is included in the Governor’s
recommendation for FY 2025 for the agency. In addition, any
administrative expenses would be negligible, and any funds
appropriated by the Legislature would be used for awarding
grants.
The Division of the Budget notes that because the
Program would be codified with enactment of the bill, state
aid expenditures for the Program would be expected to be
ongoing after FY 2025.
The fiscal effect associated with the bill is reflected in
The FY 2025 Governor’s Budget Report.
Kansas Department of Agriculture; Farm-to-Food Bank Program Act; Farm-to-Food
Bank Program; agricultural food products; food banks; local food; agricultural
producers


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