The Trump administration’s “Make America Healthy Again” report misinterprets some studies and cites others that don’t exist, according to the listed authors
WASHINGTON, D.C. – While more than 250 agriculture groups are asking the Trump administration to “correct” the direction of its Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) goals after releasing a report that criticized the use of common herbicides and food ingredients, others representing the cattle and beef industries aren’t among them.
A coalition of ag groups wrote a letter, criticizing the MAHA Commission’s lack of transparency in creating the report, which was released in May, and claimed that its number of citation errors and “false claims” could have been avoided with better industry input ahead of the release.
“As a result, the report contained numerous errors and distortions that have created unfounded fears about the safety of our food supply,” the letter said.
At the same time, R-CALF CEO Bill Bullard says that the report shines a positive light on the U.S. beef industry.
“The report itself points to the importance of beef as maintaining metabolic health and a strong skeleton, and it also points to the fact that America’s farmers and ranchers are the producers of whole foods, and the report says they should be the center of U.S. healthcare. And so, we were pleased to see the report. I think this was the first time in my memory that we’ve seen a multi-agency report that has really elevated the livestock industries as a solution to some of America’s ills.”
Meanwhile, the letter sent by other disgruntled ag organizations asked the commission to hold a public comment period for all of its future reports and activities, per the letter addressed to Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin.
“As organizations representing millions of farmers, ranchers, food producers and ingredient manufacturers, we write to urge you to ensure food and agriculture have a seat at the table during the development of policy recommendations related to the recent Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission report, as well as any future commission activities,” the letter said.
“We are greatly troubled by the work of the MAHA Commission to date… Since the release of the report, it has been discovered many of the studies referenced to support erroneous claims significantly misrepresented their findings or in some cases are entirely nonexistent.”
The letter points out numerous milestones of food and agriculture since the 1940s, including the tripling of U.S. agricultural output and decreased use of labor, land and inputs. “These innovations and others have made the U.S. food and agriculture system the envy of the world.
“Despite these successes, the MAHA Commission report paints a very different, inaccurate story about American agriculture and our food system. The unintended consequences of making uninformed decisions for U.S. food production based on misinformation or unproven theories would be sweeping for our nation’s farmers. It would lead to U.S. producers increasingly falling behind our global competitors, making our country more reliant on foreign imports for our food supply. Further, America’s families would see food prices rise.
“We also have concerns that by raising unfounded fears about the safety of our food supply, the report may have the unintended effect of discouraging consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables contrary to the goals of the commission.
“The MAHA Commission would benefit from inviting public comment and formally including representatives from food and agriculture in any future reports.”
American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall said, “It is deeply troubling for the White House to endorse a report that sows seeds of doubt and fear about our food system and farming practices, then attempts to celebrate farmers and the critical role they play in producing the safest food supply in the world.”
