RFK Jr. and other members of the cabinet emphasize feeding kids ‘whole foods produced by American farmers,’ but their actions to date may be making that harder.
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RFK Jr. and other members of the cabinet emphasize feeding kids ‘whole foods produced by American farmers,’ but their actions to date may be making that harder.
May 22, 2025
May 30, 2025, update: A report from the Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” commission is facing additional scrutiny this week, with media outlets reporting major flaws and concerns. The independent newsroom NOTUS reported late Thursday that several citations are inaccurate or fabricated and others are “rife with errors, from broken links to misstated conclusions.” The Washington Post reported that the commission appears to have used AI that “garbled the science” and created non-existent citations through computer “hallucinations.”
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May 22, 2025 – In its first report, released today, the Trump Administration’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission concludes that “the greatest step the United States can take to reverse childhood chronic disease is to put whole foods produced by American farmers and ranchers at the center of healthcare.”
The report was the first released by the MAHA Commission, which President Trump created through an executive order in February. The order directed members to study rising rates of childhood chronic disease and advise the president on how to turn the tide. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is at the helm, and the Commission also includes Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins, Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) Administrator Lee Zeldin, and several other cabinet members.
While a subsequent report due in August will lay out a plan to address childhood chronic disease, this initial edition focuses on establishing a “shared understanding of the magnitude of the crisis and what’s likely driving it.” It identifies four likely causes that contribute to a wide range of issues including obesity, diabetes, allergies, asthma, and depression: poor diets, cumulative chemical exposures, a lack of physical activity, and “overmedicalization.”
Poor diet, with a specific focus on ultra-processed foods (UPFs), is front and center. “The excessive consumption of UPFs has led to a depletion of essential micronutrients and dietary fiber, while increasing the consumption of sugars and carbohydrates, which negatively affects overall health,” it reads. It also cites the consolidation of the food system and the influence of food corporations contributing to the rise of ultra-processed foods.
The report cites the cumulative load of chemicals children are exposed to in the environment as the second likely contributor to chronic diseases and cites the pesticides chlorpyrifos, atrazine, and glyphosate in one chart among several classes of chemicals. But on the overall risks of pesticides, it says only that “human studies are limited” and most food residues are within safety standards. On the controversial herbicide glyphosate, it says some studies “have noted a range of possible health effects,” but that a review “did not establish a direct link between use according to label directions and adverse health outcomes.”
“American farmers rely on these products, and actions that further regulate or restrict crop protection tools beyond risk-based and scientific processes set forth by Congress must involve thoughtful consideration of what is necessary for adequate protection, alternatives, and cost of production,” the report reads. Some farm groups still say it went too far.
The pesticides section of the report is likely to draw continued controversy. Many of Kennedy’s most vocal MAHA supporters have long pushed for greater attention to health risks posed by pesticides, especially glyphosate. And as the report release drew near, farm groups and Republicans in Congress pushed hard to keep language focused on pesticide risks out of the report.
Plans to address the issues identified in the report will follow. But so far, many of the administration’s actions appear to fly in the face of the Commission’s prescription.
Far from cracking down on chemicals in the environment, the EPA is pursuing a deregulatory agenda. At the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), programs that supported farmers growing healthy, whole foods—especially for schoolchildren—have been defunded. And while the report cites researcher Kevin Hall’s studies to support its claims around ultra-processed foods causing excess calorie intake, Hall left the National Institutes of Health in April because he said it no longer seemed possible to pursue “unbiased science.” The FDA has taken several actions on food additives, such as working with companies to voluntarily remove artificial dyes. The report says the administration will pursue “pro-growth policies and innovations” to address the crisis. (Link to this post.)
July 30, 2025
From Oklahoma to D.C., a food activist works to ensure that communities can protect their food systems and their future.
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