By Californians for Affordable Food
At the onset of the 2025 legislative session, Speaker of the Assembly Robert Rivas advised lawmakers to prioritize legislation that targeted California’s affordability crisis—a clear mandate from voters who emphasized their concerns about rising costs through the choices they made at the ballot box in November 2024. In particular, the average Californian household now spends $1,200 monthly on groceries as grocery prices have risen 28% in just the last five years. More than one in five Californians is food insecure, and over a quarter of Californians struggle to put food on the table. When factoring in the cost of living, no state has a higher poverty rate than California.
This stark reality has advocates raising concerns that legislation like Assembly Bill (AB) 1264, authored by Assemblymember Jesse Gabriel (D-Encino), and Governor Newsom’s Executive Order on health and nutrition regulations will only lead to fewer, more expensive grocery store choices.
California’s lawmakers join a number of others across the country who have introduced proposals to regulate individual food ingredients. The focus is on “ultra-processed foods,” a loosely defined term capturing a variety of common, everyday staples, from hydration drinks to cheese to cereal. Governor Newsom’s Executive Order would see the removal of many products served in school meals. At the same time, AB 1264 would task state scientists with identifying “particularly harmful” ultra-processed foods and ban them from school meals.
California already has some of the nation’s highest food and nutrition standards for ingredients and school meal plans. However, Governor Newsom’s Executive Order and AB 1264 calls for increased regulation on food ingredients and processes that would go above and beyond the Food & Drug Administration’s (FDA) safety recommendations.
At the same time, the federal government has signaled its desire to see fast action around ingredient safety in processed foods, creating a rapidly shifting landscape for states to build their plans around. Industry and consumer groups warn that creating a patchwork of regulations nationwide could increase consumer confusion, drive up prices, and undermine the FDA’s ability to ensure a safe food supply.
Some advocates raise concerns that regulating food ingredients beyond scientifically backed FDA rules will result in fewer choices for Californians at their local grocery stores—either from businesses discontinuing popular brands due to increased production costs or avoiding the California market entirely. Having fewer, more expensive grocery options is likely to disproportionately impact underserved, low-income Californians who rely on affordable and convenient options and have less fresh food access in their communities.
Federal uncertainty on school funding would likely put these new proposals under a harsh microscope from financially strapped California school districts. Earlier this month, the USDA cut a $1 billion program that purchased food from local farmers and ranchers for schools and food banks.
With the legislature tackling other pressing issues—the cost-of-living crisis, relief from recent wildfires, and the impacts of federal cuts on public health and education funding—this proposed legislation and executive order on food regulation seem contradictory to Speaker Rivas’ recommendation of prioritizing affordability.
California legislators will soon have to decide whether laws about increased food regulation fit into the renewed focus on affordability, which both voters and state leadership have identified as the biggest problem facing the Golden State.
Originally published on California City News