Home > News & Media > Ex-congressman is glad to be home as agriculture chief

Ex-congressman is glad to be home as agriculture chief

Herald-Tribune – April 13, 2011

TALLAHASSEE – One of the aspects Florida’s young agriculture commissioner, Adam Putnam, said he most enjoys about his new job is what he’s not doing.

Adam Putnam is working on better school nutrition and renewable energy. “It’s great to be back in Florida full time and out of some of the insanity of D.C.,” said Putnam, 36, a Bartow native and five-term congressman often mentioned as a future gubernatorial candidate.

Putnam on Tuesday called the recent budget battle that nearly shut down the federal government “the first skirmish” over the federal debt.

It is a conversation the rising GOP star believes the country needs to have, but for now he said he is happy to be back home working on various programs, from improving nutrition in school lunches to promoting renewable energy and helping fishermen recover from the BP oil disaster.

Putnam’s office also has been in the middle of the Legislature’s debate over deregulation, which include proposals to strip his agency, the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services, of most of its consumer protection functions.

Putnam, a former state lawmaker, supports some of the deregulation ideas and is pushing back on others, but it is unclear how the Legislature will respond.

It’s also too soon to tell if any of his priorities will pass the finish line in the 60-day legislative session.

Putnam’s top issue is a proposal to move the school lunch program from the Department of Education to the Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services and include more Florida-grown fruits and vegetables in the program.

“I think everyone recognizes that we can do better than the status quo in terms of what are children are eating in our public school system,” he said.

The bill would transfer supervision of 45 state employees and $810 million in federal funding for school lunches.

Click here to view this article online