RFK Jr. and MAHA fuel America's battle with food

Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s “Make America Healthy Again” movement has thrown the nation's public health leadership into chaos — but it's also playing into a larger and more popular food fight.The big picture: Americans are asking louder questions about what’s on their plates — and, for many, Kennedy’s call to overhaul the food supply resonates."We're clearly at an all-time high of public attention, policymaker attention and health care attention on food," says Dariush Mozaffarian, director of the Food is Medicine Institute at Tufts. "We're at a moment where there could be real change."But the backlash against Kennedy's vaccine views is sucking the air out of his more popular food agenda.Scientists and doctors — including top officials who resigned in protest last week from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention — are warning that MAHA vaccine activism could unravel decades of hard-won progress in public health.By the numbers: Most Americans get more than half of their calories from ultra-processed foods, like hamburgers, pizza and sugary drinks.It’s hard to dodge these foods, when they make up some 70% of America’s food supply. The tide is turning. Across race, ethnicity and socioeconomic status, “people prefer natural or healthy foods and are flipping their products to see what ingredients are in them,” says Josiemer Mattei, an associate professor of nutrition at Harvard.A study of more than 50,000 adults found the share eating a “poor diet” — one dominated by ultra-processed foods — fell from 49% in 1999 to 37% in 2020. The CDC says that ultra-processed food consumption declined from 2017 to 2023 for all age groups.Improvements were most pronounced among women, younger adults, Hispanic adults and people with higher incomes and education, CNN reports.Now, the MAHA movement is intensifying scrutiny of America’s food — from how it’s produced and marketed to who profits — and demanding concessions from food and beverage makers.Republicans are joining progressives in challenging Big Food and Big Ag, a break from past GOP positions.The Health Department is rolling out new food rules — some welcomed by experts, others sparking debate.Zoom in: “One thing that they’re rightly targeting is artificial food dyes. In general, the nutrition community is in favor of that,” Mattei says. “They increase the palatability and aesthetic of the food, but they’re harmful.”The American public is also in favor of more robust food safety inspections and better labeling, two pieces of Kennedy’s agenda.But MAHA's emphasis on self-empowerment — and self-responsibility — over relying on medical professionals has its limits.Perhaps the biggest flashpoint — vaccines — erupted last week when CDC director Susan Monarez was ousted, triggering a wave of resignations at the agency.“The intentional eroding of trust in low-risk vaccines favoring natural infection and unproven remedies will bring us to a pre-vaccine era where only the strong will survive and many if not all will suffer," departing CDC researcher Demetre Daskalakis wrote in a blistering resignation letter he posted on X.The other side: "President Trump has the utmost confidence and trust in Secretary Kennedy to lead HHS and he only wants the best, brightest, most MAHA-aligned people on board to deliver on this important mission," White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt says. "President Trump's pledge to Make America Healthy Again was key to his resounding Election Day victory in 2024, and the Administration will continue to secure and tout MAHA victories for the American people.""The American people voted for this transformation — and at HHS, we're delivering on President Trump's mandate to Make America Healthy Again," a health department spokesperson told Axios.Friction point: As the Trump administration is touting a renewed focus on nutrition, it's slashing funding for medical research at unprecedented levels, fueling a science brain drain.The bottom line: “Science evolves, and we might learn new things,” Harvard's Mattei says.But scientists and public health experts warn much of what Kennedy and his MAHA allies are pushing now runs counter to the research we do have — threatening to erode trust in science and revert advances in public health.

Comments

World news

Gas leak at Sydney restaurant kills 25-year-old man and leaves 7 hospitalised

Independent

Comments

Similar News

Can Americans still get vaccinated under Trump and RFK Jr? The answer comes down to geography

What RFK Jr. gets wrong — and right — according to a public health expert

‘The chaos is the point’: tumult as Covid vaccine boosters deployed under RFK Jr

Fired CDC director who clashed with RFK Jr over vaccines set to testify in Senate

An illustrated guide to getting the vaccines you need in RFK Jr.’s America

RFK Jr’s autism claims have been discredited – what’s really causing rise in diagnoses

Kennedys at war as RFK Jr’s sister and nephew call for him to resign as health secretary

RFK Jr will be Trump’s undoing – and it could get ugly very quickly

Bill Maher says ‘nutty’ friend RFK Jr has ‘got to go’

‘None of us will be spared’: RFK Jr’s family call on him to quit

Health Secretary RFK Jr to link Autism and Tylenol use in pregnancy sending company’s stock price spiraling

RFK Jr’s adviser claims Covid vaccines ‘likely gave Royal Family cancer’

Trump’s former surgeon general urges president to fire RFK Jr over vaccine policy and CDC chaos

Why the world is watching RFK's fight with US health agency

Trump breaks from RFK on vaccines: "Pure and simple, they work"

RFK Jr. to draw link between Tylenol and autism, new report says

5 takeaways from RFK Jr.’s contentious hearing before Senate lawmakers

First Thing: RFK Jr accused of ‘reckless disregard for science and the truth’ in Senate hearing

Blue states mount vaccine defense against RFK Jr.

RFK Jr becomes an unlikely great uniter as Democrats and Republicans join forces to pounce on his pseudoscience

World news

Gas leak at Sydney restaurant kills 25-year-old man and leaves 7 hospitalised

Tyler Robinson: Suspect in Charlie Kirk shooting set to face charges on Tuesday

Report claims thousands of children taken from Ukraine to be ‘re-educated’ by Russia

My evacuation from Gaza City: ‘I told my terrified toddler we’re going camping’

Luigi Mangione due in court amid double jeopardy fight in CEO killing

Israel IS committing genocide against Palestinians, says UN inquiry as IDF bombards Gaza City

Madeleine McCann ‘could have been stolen to order by paedophile network’

Australia warns social media over age checks as child ban plan moves forward

UN Commission says Israel is committing genocide in Gaza

Israel's Qatar attack was a costly failure

Israel launches fresh operation in major escalation amid warning 'Gaza is burning'

Four atrocities in horror UN report 'confirms Israel committing genocide' in Gaza

Coachella line up in full - all 132 acts performing at US music festival as Justin Bieber headlines

Russia raises tensions with NATO as Putin shows off his battlefield nuclear weapons

Charlie Kirk traveled across America. His security varied from venue to venue

Two men jailed for plot to kill president with witchcraft in Zambia

Dad threatened by ICE deportation days after being shot during robbery

‘Gaza is burning’: Israel reportedly begins ground offensive after Netanyahu threatens Hamas leaders

Donald Trump says he will sue New York Times for $15bn

Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, UN probe finds

‘Tooth-in-eye’ surgery enables man to see again after 20 years

Trump says he will sue the New York Times for $15bn

Is Keir Starmer already toast? I don’t think so

Apple TV+ swept the Emmys – these are the 11 shows to watch

Haitians yearn for home as gangs welcome them and police warn it's too dangerous

Father kills his own baby daughter on Facebook Live before taking his own life

Watch: JD Vance hosts Charlie Kirk's daily talk radio show

Why more women get cancer in India - but more men die

Malawi votes for next president as cost-of-living bites

They were shot dead for protesting against corruption in Nepal

Belarus and Russia's show of firepower appears to be a message to Europe

Google owner reveals £5bn AI investment in UK ahead of Trump visit

US Secretary of State inaugurates Israeli settler-led archaeological site in Jerusalem

Trump says he will sue New York Times for $15bn

Nigerian chef breaks world record for largest jollof rice dish

Chinese teens to pay $300,000 for urinating in soup

Report those who celebrate Charlie Kirk death to employers, Vance says

Israel escalates bombardment as defence minister says 'Gaza is burning'

Beaten and held in Russia for three years - but never charged with a crime

Trump's state visit is mired with potential pitfalls despite careful planning

Trump says the U.S. military targeted a boat allegedly carrying drugs from Venezuela

Federal Judge Declines to Intervene for Migrants Deported to Ghana

Florida attorney general says cops should stop enforcing open carry gun ban after court ruling

Russia shows off conventional and nuclear military might in drills — and raises tensions with NATO

Tyson Foods to eliminate high-fructose corn syrup in brands like Jimmy Dean and Hillshire Farm

A new Ebola outbreak has been declared. Here’s what we know

Luigi Mangione due in court amid double jeopardy fight in UnitedHealthcare CEO’s killing

How hands-off investing could have made you six times more than saving this year

‘I fought in Afghanistan but faulty earplugs left me with physical and mental scars’

Birmingham City and the battle of ambition vs tradition

I’m a first-time buyer – why does being self-employed mean I can borrow less?

Canada’s friendly seafood capital with a road trip and vineyards nearby

Sorry book snobs – Richard Osman’s The Impossible Fortune is a delight

Trump’s Tariffs Start to Bite in Vietnam

ADHD and bipolar patients face medicine delays – even when drugs are in stock

My Man Utd XI to save Amorim’s job – with three major changes

Please stop suggesting a date night – I’d rather you unblock the drain