CA SB490

Requires public institutions receiving federal meal reimbursement funding to prioritize purchasing domestically grown, packed, or processed agricultural food products in their solicitations and contracts, effective January 1, 2024.

Allows exceptions to the domestic purchase requirement when nondomestic products are more than 25% cheaper, superior in quality, or unavailable domestically in sufficient quantities.

Exempts local educational agencies with annual federal meal reimbursement funding below $1,000,000, the Child and Adult Care Food Program, Summer Food Service Program, Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation, and USDA-provided products.

Requires public institutions to retain purchase documentation for 3 years and make it available to the public upon request, with protections when vendors substitute unavailable products.

Directs the State Department of Education to annually post aggregate pricing data from local educational agencies and add a question to federal administrative reviews regarding agricultural product price increases and implementation costs.