MAHA: Food, Farmers & Healthy Kids

September 9, 2025

Months after being outraged, agricultural groups on Tuesday largely praised the findings of the latest Make America Healthy Again Commission report, as the commission backed away from criticizing pesticides.

The official release of the latest MAHA report mirrored a leaked copy from last month, but multiple Cabinet and agency leaders came together on Tuesday to officially unveil 18 pages of recommendations.

Under the report, USDA and EPA will try to better educate the public on pesticide research and approvals while also championing that farmers invest more in both precision agriculture and regenerative practices to reduce the use of farm chemicals. The report repeatedly highlights the value of soil health practices and conservation programs.

Overall, the MAHA report spelled out a range of potential policy changes across various departments to address a crisis in children's health linked to poor diet, chemical exposure, lack of physical activity and overmedication.

"We're the sickest country in the world," said Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the secretary of Health and Human Services. He added, "We spend nearly as much for health care as every other country combined, and yet we have the poorest outcomes."

Despite President Donald Trump's affinity for deregulating businesses, Kennedy praised the president for his willingness to press for healthier foods and challenge industry standards.

"There's never been a president in my lifetime that is more willing to challenge businesses when they overreach, that was more fearlessly acknowledging entrenched interests in our society," Kennedy said.

The commission's 128 recommendations, Kennedy said, "are things I've been dreaming about my whole life."

Among the recommendations in the report, the federal government will come up with a single definition of ultra-processed foods while trying to improve foods used for school lunches, the military and hospitals. The Trump administration will also continue to press to remove food dyes and other chemicals from food. The Food and Drug Administration will consider more rulemaking for nutritional food labeling as well.

"Again, it's going to challenge a lot of industries, very powerful industries," Kennedy said.

EPA AND USDA ON PESTICIDES

After a career attacking agricultural chemicals, Kennedy on Tuesday deferred to EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin when he was asked why the report was not more critical about pesticides.

The report states EPA and USDA will partner with food and agricultural stakeholders to raise public awareness about EPA pesticide reviews.

Zeldin repeatedly talked about the agency using "gold standard science" to review and approve pesticide applications. He also said the agency has worked to halt illegally imported pesticides and pointed to rejecting imported products from a company that refused to provide scientific data on its products.

"EPA is committed to using the best available science," Zeldin said.

While EPA has cut thousands of scientific staff in recent months, Zeldin said the agency is increasing staff in the office that oversees pesticide reviews.

"We are increasing the bandwidth and capacity inside that office," Zeldin said.

Zeldin also touted the value of "precision agriculture" programs at universities and training the next generation of farmers.

"The biggest hurdle, the biggest obstacle that is being encountered is just the need for more advocacy and education of the infrastructure that is out there," Zeldin said.

Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins also praised EPA's science when approving farm inputs.

"The EPA is arguably the most rigorous, most data-backed, the most scientifically deep review process in the world, and to approve any product that is used by our farmers, it will have gone through years upon years upon years of research," Rollins said.

Rollins pointed to using drones to spray weeds or insects by using artificial intelligence. "You can send a drone across a field of corn, and that drone can tell you down to a spot of corn where a particular bug that needs to be eradicated," Rollins said. "It will completely change the game as we're moving forward on what our crop protection tools look like, and how we continue to produce the safest, most abundant food in the world."

AG GROUPS LARGELY PRAISE REPORT

Trade associations in agriculture changed their views on MAHA as well. After a groundswell of complaints in May, groups said the new report reflects the months of meetings between agricultural stakeholders and Kennedy's inner circle.

CropLife America said the new report emphasizes "the critical role of pesticides in ensuring a safe, affordable, and abundant food supply for American families."

After the May report, CropLife said the report would "stir unjustified fear and confusion" about the food supply.

The National Corn Growers Association said the report "reflected NCGA's recommendation of reinforcing the Environmental Protection Agency's robust, globally respected pesticide review process."

"The policy recommendations related to crop production, released today by the MAHA Commission, appear to be a reasonable and science-based approach for achieving its objectives," said Kenneth Hartman Jr., an Illinois farmer and president of NCGA.

The American Soybean Association (ASA) expressed cautious optimism on the report and also credited the commission with its engagement with farm groups.

"Soybean farmers are thankful the MAHA Commission recognized EPA's approval process as the global gold standard," said ASA President Caleb Ragland, a Kentucky farmer. "Between the May report and today's strategy, the Commission was accessible and open to learning more about modern farming practices. We truly felt like we had a seat at the table, and for that, we are incredibly appreciative."

Still, ASA stated the group "remains concerned about the misinformed rhetoric from some commission members around edible soybean oil," though the report does not mention oilseeds.

The National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG) also expressed concerns over the commission's "framing of enriched and refined grains as 'ultra-processed,' cautioning against broad generalizations that misrepresent their value in a healthy diet."

Meat and dairy groups generally welcomed the report for pointing to the benefits of meat protein and whole milk products.

MAHA MOMS, OTHERS PUSH BACK

Other groups and advocates who consider themselves in the MAHA camp criticized the report for not addressing pesticides.

Zen Honeycutt, founder of Moms Across America, said she was thrilled that the report addresses a range of issues, but said, "We are deeply disappointed that the committee allowed the chemical companies to influence the report. Clearly, eliminating the words 'glyphosate and atrazine' (that were in the first report) is not a result of new science that shows these two most widely used herbicides to be safe, but rather a tactic to appease the pesticide companies.

"We would rather that this MAHA Commission report had put the health and safety of our children first and made a bold commitment to reduce our children's exposure to thousands of harmful pesticides; many of which are banned in other countries, many more which have been given emergency use authorization without safety studies. Reducing exposure to these pesticides is crucial to making America healthy again."

Environmental groups also leveled similar complaints against the report.

Angela Hoffman, president of Farm Action, said the report backs off other diagnosed problems around corporate consolidation and control of the food system.

"It does take some encouraging steps, but it pulls back from the hard truths the commission itself laid out in its May assessment," Hoffman said. "Farmers and families need bolder reforms than what this strategy delivers."

BOOSTING REGENERATIVE AGRICULTURE

Rollins said USDA will have a "regenerative pilot program" to address farmer resource concerns and provide producers with "usable, outcomes-based conservation plans."

In April, USDA rebranded the Partnerships for Climate-Smart Commodities program -- a $3 billion pilot project created by the Biden administration. The department renamed the program the "Advancing Markets for Producers" (AMP) program but also changed some of the requirements that eliminated some of the grant recipients as well.

While treating agricultural chemicals with sensitivity, the MAHA report said USDA and EPA will incentivize farming practices "in partnership with the private sector" to improve soil health. That includes expanding traditional USDA conservation programs such as the Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP) and the Conservation Stewardship Program (CSP) "all while avoiding burdensome mandates," the report stated.

USDA also will prioritize "shovel-ready conservation projects" already planned by farmers. This comes after USDA canceled an unknown number of conservation grants and projects since the administration took over in January. USDA will prioritize practices "that farmers want and trust" such as prescribed grazing, soil health systems and water management.

Tied with that, USDA also will provide farmers with more tools to improve soil-health practices that "increase organic matter and improve soil composition."

USDA also will emphasize and prioritize conservation technical assistance, "including the development of personalized advice and information, which could include development and expansion of mobile and digital planning tools for in-field, real-time assistance."

That comes after the Trump administration sought in its 2026 budget proposal to eliminate all discretionary funding for conservation technical assistance. The Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) also has shed thousands of staff from county offices nationally when USDA terminated probationary employees and offered buyouts to senior staff.

The report also states USDA will look at more deregulation strategies such as streamlining organic certification by reducing costs for smaller farmers.

Another action would eliminate barriers for Community Supported Agriculture (CSA) programs and promote direct-to-consumer sales. Once again, USDA earlier this year cut $1 billion in contracts with farmers through the Local Food Purchasing Assistance Cooperative Agreement Program, and the Local Food For Schools Program. At the time, Rollins called them "pandemic-era" programs that were "non-essential" going forward.

Source: DTN, Western Ag Network