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A plan to pair students with fresh fruits and vegetables from Florida farms is one step closer to reality. A bill to take the school food program away from the Department of Education and give it to the Commissioner of Agriculture promises to put more Florida produce in school lunchrooms. As Whitney Ray tells us, the bill is on the governor’s desk and he’s expected to sign it.

Three year old Zoe Simms can’t get enough fresh fruits and vegetables. Her mom makes sure she and her 12 year old sister Rachel eat only the best.

“We prefer all organic and fresh-grown everything,” said Marissa Brock.

Which is why the family came to Blueberry Springs Farm Thursday. There are no chemicals or pesticides used on owner Jack Krause’s blueberry bushes.

“They’re fresh and straight from the farm; not processed, no chemicals on them,” said Krause.

Pretty soon Jack will have a better shot at having his produce in public schools. A bill on the governor’s desk gives the commissioner of agriculture authority over school lunches. And he’s pledging to put more Florida produce in school lunchrooms.

This contraption here is called a sorting tray. It’s used to weed out the smallest blueberries. Now if a piece of produce is either too small or too large it’s not allowed to ship, although it may still be good to eat. The commissioner of agriculture hopes to use those small and large pieces of produce in Florida schools.

The size of the fruit doesn’t matter much to Marissa, as long as her kids have options.

“When you do fresh fruits and vegetable and give the children an option they are more likely to choose the healthy option instead of the junky option,” said Marissa.

And better choices may be what’s needed to stop obesity among kids. According to the Center for Disease Control and Prevention one in three is overweight. The plan also calls for nutritional information to be posted online. So, beginning in 2012 parents can go to the Department of Agriculture’s website to see exactly what their students are eating.