Food Recovery Infrastructure Grant Program is sponsored by New Jersey Department of Agriculture. This program awards grants to food recovery organizations in New Jersey to assist with the purchase of equipment necessary to safely recover and store food obtained from food donors.

INTRODUCED FEBRUARY 12, 2026 Assemblyman� ALEX SAUICKIE District 12 (Burlington, Middlesex, Monmouth and Ocean) ���� Establishes Food Recovery Infrastructure Grant Program in Department of Agriculture; makes appropriation. An Act concerning food recovery organizations, supplementing Title 4 of the Revised Statutes, and making an appropriation. Enacted by the Senate and General Assembly of ���� 1.

��� a. � As used in this ���� �Department� means the Department of Agriculture. ���� �Food recovery organization� means a food bank, food pantry, soup kitchen, food gleaning organization, food donation aggregator, shelter for the homeless, or other nonprofit organization that distributes food to individuals in need of assistance.

���� �Grant program� means the Food Recovery Infrastructure Grant Program established pursuant to this section. established in the Department of Agriculture the Food Recovery Infrastructure Grant Program.

� The purpose of the grant program shall be to award grants to food recovery organizations to support food recovery organizations and assist with the purchase of equipment that is necessary to safely recover and store food obtained from food donors. ���� c.

� The department shall administer the grant program and make grants available to food recovery organizations in this State to assist with the: costs of providing salaries, wages, or compensation to the organization�s employees; overhead and general administrative costs of the organization; and costs of purchasing eligible equipment.

� Eligible equipment shall include: ���� (1)�� refrigerators, including commercial refrigerators; ���� (2)�� freezers, including ���� (3)�� refrigerant and non-refrigerant box trucks; ���� (4) retrofit refrigerator ���� (5)� mobile cooler units; ���� (9)�� hand fork lifts; ���� (13)� freezer blankets; ���� (14)� industrial shelving; ���� (15) �reusable bags; and ���� (16)� any other equipment the department deems necessary for food recovery operations.

���� d. � The Department of Agriculture, in consultation with the Office of the Food Security Advocate, shall develop an application by which a food recovery organization may apply for a grant, and criteria by which to evaluate the applications received by the department, and select grant awardees from those applications.

� The department shall provide notice of the availability of funding under the grant program and make the application available on the department's Internet website. ���� e. ���� A food recovery organization seeking to participate in the grant program shall submit an application in a form and manner determined by the department.

� The application shall include such information the department determines is necessary to ���� f. � A grant awarded pursuant to this section shall be in an amount determined by the department, not to exceed $50,000 and subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury.

organization that receives a grant pursuant to this section may use up to 10 percent of the total amount of the grant for the salaries, wages, or compensation of the organization�s employees and the organization�s overhead and general administrative costs. ���� h.

� The Secretary of Agriculture shall annually apply for any federal grants funds or other forms of non-State financial assistance, which may be available to be used for the grant program, and may, if applicable, apply for federal grant funds or other forms of non-State financial assistance on behalf of one or more entities approved for participation in the grant program. ���� i.

� The department may use available monies to provide grants, singly or in combination, from the following sources: any federal grants funds or other forms of non-State financial assistance, which may be available to be used for the grant program; the "Global Warming Solutions Fund," subject to the requirements of P. L. 2007, c.

340 (C. 26:2C-50) and any other applicable rule or regulation concerning the use of the monies in the Global Warming Solutions Fund; any appropriations made by the Legislature for the program; and any other sources of available funding. � In awarding grants under the program, the department shall expend any available federal funds or other forms of non-State financial assistance before expending State funds.

���� 2. � The Secretary of Agriculture shall adopt rules and regulations, in accordance with the �Administrative Procedure Act,� P. L.

1968, c. 410 (C. 52:14B-1 et seq.)

, as necessary to effectuate the provisions of this act. ���� 3. � There is appropriated from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture such sums as are necessary to effectuate the purposes of this act.

���� 4. � This act shall take effect ���� This bill establishes the Food Recovery Infrastructure Grant Program (program) in the Department of Agriculture (department). � The purpose of the program will be to award grants to food recovery organizations to support food recovery organizations and assist with the purchase of the equipment that is necessary to safely recover and store food obtained from food donors.

���� The bill requires the department to administer the program and make grants available to food recovery organizations in this State to assist with the: costs of providing salaries, wages, or compensation to the organization�s employees; overhead and general administrative costs of the organization; and costs of purchasing eligible equipment necessary to safely recover and store food obtained from food donors.

���� The bill requires the department, in consultation with Office of the Food Security Advocate, to develop an application by which a food recovery organization may apply for a grant, and criteria by which to evaluate the applications received by the department, and to select grant awardees from those applications.

� The department will provide notice of the availability of funding under the grant program and make the application available on the department's Internet ���� A food recovery organization seeking to participate in the grant program will be required to submit an application in a form and manner determined by the department.

� A grant awarded pursuant to the bill will be in an amount determined by the department, not to exceed $50,000 and subject to the approval of the Director of the Division of Budget and Accounting in the Department of the Treasury. ���� The bill authorizes the department to utilize any combination of available funding from various sources to provide grants under the program.

� In awarding grants under the program, the department will expend any available forms of non-State financial assistance before expending State funds.

� The bill appropriates from the General Fund to the Department of Agriculture such sums as are necessary to effectuate the ���� In 2022, food banks in New Jersey distributed over 125 million pounds of food and provided over 100 million meals through various feeding agencies, including soup kitchens, food pantries, and shelters.

� Each year the New Jersey Food Distribution Program provides more than 40 million pounds of United States Department of Agriculture-donated food commodities to over 1,000 recipient agencies and feeding programs.

� It is the sponsor�s belief that ensuring the proper storage and preservation of food throughout the food recovery supply chain will result in the distribution of fresher and more nutritious food to people in this State who are food insecure.