Gerawan Farms stonefruit is marketed under the Prima brand.

Gov. Gavin Newsom on Tuesday signed SB 490, the bill from Sen. Anna Caballero that would require schools receiving federal funding for prepared meals to purchase domestically produced food products.

Beginning in 2024, SB 490 requires all public institutions received such federal reimbursements to purchase agricultural products grown, packed or processed in the U.S. An exception would be if the imported product costs 25% or more cheaper than the domestic product.

The language would have to be included in the institution’s bids and contracts.

#Breaking: Starting 1/124, all CA K-12 students will eat food grown & produced in the USA. This means quality food for our children, good union jobs for our workers & the support for our farmers that they need & deserve! Thank you, @CAgovernor for signing #SB490 #BuyAmerican pic.twitter.com/G5kOgAQLNw

— Anna Caballero (@CASenCaballero) September 28, 2022

Caballero had been pushing for Newsom’s signature, which she applauded in a Tweet Tuesday.

“This means quality food for our children, good union jobs for our workers & the support for our farmers that they need & deserve!”

Opponents of the bill, including the superintendent of Los Angeles Unified School District and the California School Boards Association, said the bill is “well-intentioned, but harmful,” as it would lead to higher costs as the state expands free meal access for students.

While SB 490 requires the products to be purchased from anywhere in the U.S., Newsom in his signing statement said it would be a boon for California’s farm economy.

“This Buy American policy will benefit the California agricultural industry and agricultural workers, as well as the students and teachers consuming these meals in our schools,” he wrote.