Latest Headlines
- Escambia School Board Buys 36 Acres For $3.9 Million For New Beulah School
- Century Spending Over $3.3 Million On Five Sewage Lift Stations
- Man Gets 50 Years In Prison For 2022 Murder At Cantonment Gas Station
- Pedestrian Checking Trailer Tire Struck By Car In Two Vehicle Crash Near Century
- State Funding $240 Million Beulah I-10 Interchange
- Failed Urban Development Century YouthFirst Program Finally Repays Unsecured Loan From Century
- Escambia Public School Hosting Job Fair On July 29
- Woman Arrested In Kentucky For Fatal 2023 Escambia County Hit And Run
- ‘Operation Southern Slow Down; Targets Speeding In Five States
- Atmore Man, Century Woman Arrested During Suspicious Vehicle Investigation
Florida Ag Boss Says School Vending Machines Too Sweet
May 19, 2011
Florida Agriculture Commissioner Adam Putnam said Wednesday he may shut down or restrict the use of vending machines in public schools in response to what he says is a public health epidemic of obesity that left unchecked will cost the state millions in health care costs.
Speaking to reporters Wednesday, Putnam said he hopes Gov. Rick Scott will assist him in that endeavor by signing into law a proposal (SB 1312) to transfer the oversight of school nutritional programs to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services.
The bill was passed by both chambers but has yet to be presented to Gov. Rick Scott.
With obesity on the rise, Putnam believes the bill will give him the authority to place tighter constraints on what schools offer students to eat and drink. Such oversight includes school lunch menus and private vending companies that vie for access to the relatively captive audience.
Comments