Despite assurances from Trump administration officials that farmers will not be affected by attempts to reduce environmental chemical exposure from food, farmers have been raised concerns that the move will explode farmers’ costs and more than double the cost of food.
The administration has announced an assessment that will strategize how to tackle childhood chronic illnesses such as obesity and mental health challenges, including many of President Donald Trump’s political appointees (MAHA) committee, closest policy adviser. Part of the report’s focus is on exposure to children’s chemicals from our foods. This is linked to developmental issues and chronic diseases, according to reports.
In the release of the report, the farm group expressed concern that the Maha agenda focuses on pesticides. They say that when the administration concludes with widely used pesticides, crop yields will be reduced, input costs will skyrocket and food costs will more than double.
Doctors are targeting pesticides that “cause cancer” in response to MAHA reports
Some farmers have applauded back to recent reports from the Trump administration on Make America’s health, claiming that they will overturn decades of science by chasing widely used pesticides. (Stephen Goyne)
“Farmers already face many challenges. Uncertainties about access to critical crop protection products should not be added to the list,” said Elizabeth Burns Thompson, executive director of Modern Agu Alliance. “Crop protection tools are not only safe, they are essential for food security, affordability and the survival of family farms across the country. Losing access to these critical inputs will be a catastrophic setback to American agriculture.”
Maha committee officials tried to reassure farmers at an event that will publish assessments on Thursday on pediatric chronic diseases. Agriculture Secretary Brook Rollins said the “centre” of the Maha Agenda will “make American agriculture great again.”
“We love farmers, we want to respect and respect them, and we do so at all times,” President Trump added at the White House event on Thursday. “We won the farmers in many elections, and all three elections — and we won many elections. I will never forget that. And they are the most important in our thinking.”
However, some farmers still express concern.
Maha’s report rule out the “chronic disease crisis” facing America
Soybean fields are sprayed into Iowa. (AP Photo/Charlie Neighborgor)
“The Make America Healthy Report is filled with fear-based information rather than science-based information on pesticides. It is deeply plagued by the claims of this magnitude being made without scientific evidence or consideration for the long history of EPA expert evaluations of these products.” “We call on the administration to respect existing scientific organizations on pesticides and to proceed to include American farmers in the discussion as this process evolves.”
According to a statement released by the Modern AG Alliance, pesticides can be “hardly tested” by the federal government, and in the case of glyphosate, it has been mentioned many times in the Maha report – it is one of the most studied pesticides of its kind.
They said that if Maha’s report promotes future policy decisions, it would hurt farmers and more than double the cost of food.
The former Yankees coach runs a farm that vows to “make meat great again.”
“Without glyphosate, the most widely used tool for farmers to fight weeds in the US – will reduce herd yields, surge in input costs by 150%, and more than double the food inflation,” the group said. “When Sri Lanka banned the use of synthetic pesticides and fertilizers in 2021, crop yields fell by more than 50%, forcing the government to import large quantities of food just to meet basic needs.
The Modern AG Alliance, a coalition of farmers, says policy decisions from the Trump administration, which concludes pesticides, could more than double the cost of food. (istock)
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was a vocal opponent of the dangerous health effects of unregulated pesticides, even before he became the leader of the Maha committee, said at a Senate hearing last week that he “cannot take a step to eject a single farmer into this country.”
“There are millions of farmers who rely on glyphosate,” he said. “100% of the corn in this country relies on glyphosate. We don’t intend to do anything to put that business model at risk.”
Farmers come first as the initiative aims to lower costs and get fresh food more efficiently than Americans
Maha Report repeats the economic importance of protecting farmers, but lists glyphosate in the infographic of “chemical classes and general exposure routes,” and says research studies have the potential to cause various health effects. They also list atrazine and other chemicals as dangerous to childhood health.
Maha committee officials say that part of the administration’s focus will be a return to the gold standard of science, but the NCGA said it is against “a wide range of research and testing” with a focus on certain widely used pesticides, such as atrazine and glyphosate.
“If the administration’s goal is to increase efficiency more than government, why does the Secretary of Health and Human Services replicate the efforts by raising questions about pesticides that have been repeatedly answered through research and reviews by federal regulators?” the group asked.
Both President Donald Trump and head of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have tried to reassure farmers that they will not be adversely affected by the American healthy agenda. (Getty Images/Greg Nash/Pool/AFP/Tierney L. Cross/Bloomberg/Sebastian Gollnow/Picture Alliance)
Jennifer Galardi, a senior policy analyst focusing on health and wellness issues at the Heritage Foundation, looked at the Maha Committee’s strategy with a more balanced view on pesticides like glyphosate, and appeared to be passing needles to prevent chemicals that can help farmers and American food supplies safe and that could affect child health.
“The MAHA Committee report appears to be carefully considering competing issues in highly complex agriculture debates. The crop protection tools mentioned in the report can cause health outcomes and create a desire to protect farmers and the country’s economic interests,” Galardi said. “But everyone needs to agree that companies that manufacture products such as glyphosate and GMO should not have an undue influence on research that underlie sound policies. Americans should demand transparency in these decisions.”
Due to tensions over pesticide issues, Galardi hypothesized that the Maha Committee might decide to chase “dashed fruits” such as being a major driver of obesity and metabolic dysfunction, such as improving children’s diet and lack of physical activity.
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In response to this article, a USDA spokesman sent the following statement from Secretary Rollins:
“We need to do more to improve the health outcomes of our children and families. President Trump knows that agriculture is at the heart of the solution. American farmers and ranchers are dedicated to the noble cause of feeding our country and the world. Maha Committee on improving the health of our nation.”
White House spokesman Kush Desai reiterated Rollins’ sentiment in another statement about the importance of agriculture and farmers in terms of carrying out the Maha mission. He also reiterated that the Maha movement is based on the “gold standard of science.”
“The guidelines for President Trump’s movement to make America healthy again are the gold standard in science, and everyone from American farmers to everyday parents is important to the success of this movement,” Desai said. “The Maha Commission’s report is a historic step by the government, and for the first time it is a comprehensive review of the latest evidence and research of what we know and what we don’t know, to torment American children.”
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