Florida Senate - 2026                                     SB 852
       
       
        
       By Senator Jones
       
       
       
       
       
       34-00910-26                                            2026852__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to food insecure areas; creating s.
    3         163.31791, F.S.; providing legislative findings;
    4         providing definitions; authorizing a local government
    5         to enact land development regulations to permit land
    6         use for a small-footprint grocery store located in a
    7         food insecure area; authorizing a local government to
    8         include in its comprehensive plan a provision
    9         permitting land use for a small-footprint grocery
   10         store located in a food insecure area; authorizing a
   11         local government to require mandatory reporting of
   12         certain information from a small-footprint grocery
   13         store; providing an effective date.
   14          
   15  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   16  
   17         Section 1. Section 163.31791, Florida Statutes, is created
   18  to read:
   19         163.31791 Food insecure areas.—
   20         (1) The Legislature finds that access to affordable,
   21  healthy food options, especially fresh fruits and vegetables, is
   22  restricted due, in part, to the absence of supermarkets located
   23  within a convenient traveling distance. This restriction
   24  constitutes a threat to the health, safety, and welfare of the
   25  residents of this state. Therefore, the Legislature finds that
   26  it serves an important public purpose to encourage local
   27  governments to grant or approve development permits for land
   28  designated as a food insecure area in order to increase the
   29  availability of nutrient-dense food options.
   30         (2) As used in this section, the term:
   31         (a) “Food insecure area” is synonymous with “food desert”
   32  and means a parcel of land that has been identified by the
   33  Office of Economic and Demographic Research as being located in
   34  an area:
   35         1. Having a poverty rate of at least 20 percent or having a
   36  median family income at or below 80 percent of the median family
   37  income for this state; and
   38         2. Having at least 500 persons, or at least 33 percent of
   39  the population, who, in urban communities, live more than 1 mile
   40  from a supermarket or who, in rural communities, live more than
   41  10 miles from a supermarket.
   42         (b) “Nutrient-dense food” means a food that has a high
   43  level of nutrients in relationship to the number of calories it
   44  contains. The term includes fresh fruits and vegetables, whole
   45  grains, nuts, seeds, beans and legumes, and low-fat dairy
   46  products.
   47         (c) “Small-footprint grocery store” means a grocery store
   48  that:
   49         1. Sells products at wholesale or retail;
   50         2. Derives at least 30 percent of its gross receipts from
   51  the retail sale of nutrient-dense foods; and
   52         3. Operates in a food insecure area.
   53         (d) “Supermarket” means a grocery store that contains all
   54  of the major food departments found in a large retail grocery
   55  store.
   56         (3) Notwithstanding any other restrictions, a local
   57  government may enact land development regulations authorizing
   58  land use for a small-footprint grocery store located in a food
   59  insecure area.
   60         (4) Notwithstanding any other restrictions, a local
   61  government may include in its comprehensive plan a provision
   62  authorizing land use for a small-footprint grocery store located
   63  in a food insecure area.
   64         (5) A local government may require mandatory reporting of
   65  certain information from small-footprint grocery stores.
   66         Section 2. This act shall take effect July 1, 2026.