House Backs Healthy Schools for Healthy Lives Act

The Florida House joined the Senate on Wednesday in passing the Healthy Schools for Healthy Lives Act which would pave the way for local farmers to work with school districts to include more fruits and vegetables in school breakfast and lunch programs, and would switch control over school lunch programs from the state Department of Education to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services. The bill, which was a high priority for Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam, now heads to Gov. Rick Scott who is expected to sign it.

School nutrition programs are key to encouraging Floridas children to make healthy choices at an early age, said Rep. Seth McKeel, R-Lakeland, who sponsored the bill in the House.Having school nutrition programs under the purview of Commissioner Putnam and the Florida Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services will give schools unparalleled access to Floridas freshest fruits and vegetables by directly connecting Floridas agricultural community and our states schools.

I commend my colleagues for approving this measure today and applaud Representative McKeel for his leadership on this issue, said House Speaker Dean Cannon, R-Winter Park.I am confident that the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, under the leadership of Commissioner Putnam, will significantly improve the nutrition of our schools cafeteria menus and encourage Floridas children to adopt healthy eating habits at a young age.