President Trump’s nominee to head the Department of Health and Human Services said Wednesday during his confirmation hearing that he isn’t the enemy of food producers.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who has previously been openly critical of some chemicals used in crop production, did not back down from his concern about environmental toxins and removing them from the food, water and air. Kennedy has rolled out the Make America Healthy Again plan, a portion of which says MAHA “champions regenerative agriculture as a solution to many of America’s health and environmental challenges.”

This includes, according to MAHA, supporting policies that incentivize sustainable farming practices, improve soil health, reduce chemical usage and increase biodiversity.

But Kennedy told Senators that MAHA can’t succeed “without full partnership” with American farmers.

“American farms are the bedrock of our culture and national security,” said Kennedy, who mentioned he was a 4H kid and spent many childhood summers working on ranches. “I want to work with farmers and food producers to remove burdensome regulations and unleash American ingenuity.”

In his opening statement, Kennedy told the Senate Committee on Agriculture, Nutrition and Forestry that his headline initiatives including ensuring tax dollars supported healthy foods, scrutinizing chemical additives in the nation’s food supply, removing financial conflicts of interest from HHS agencies, and creating, “an honest, unbiased gold standard science at HHS accountable to the president, the Congress and the American people.

“We want to reverse the chronic disease epidemic and put the nation back on the road to good health.”

Kennedy’s hearing was much more contentious than the one for Brooke Rollins, Trump’s nominee to lead the USDA, as his stance on vaccines, pharmaceuticals, rural health initiatives and other topics dominated.

Preserving Farmers

U.S. Sen. Steve Daines (R-Mont.) said agriculture was his state’s top economic driver and farmers and ranchers were some of the most effective environmental stewards he knows. Daines asked Kennedy if he would commit to working collaboratively with the USDA, federal agencies and farmers before implementing any policy that will affect food supplies.

Kennedy dismissed any notion that HHS and USDA would have conflicts over ag policy.  Rollins testified she would staunchly support the interests of agriculture 

“I understand the very thin margins that American farmers and ranchers are dealing with. I don’t want, under my watch, a single farmer to have to leave his farm for economic or regulatory reasons or bureaucratic reasons,” Kennedy told Daines.

“President Trump has a very strong commitment to farmers. Trump is probably, historically in modern history, the best farm president in our history. Farm income spiked for first time in decades under his last administration. He got solid support from famers across the country. 

“He has specifically instructed me (that) he wants farmers involved in every policy. He wants me to work with Brooke Rollins at UDSA to make sure we preserve American farmers, and that all our policies support them.”

Kennedy shared some stark statistics Wednesday about the state of the country’s health. He said 70% of adults are overweight or obese, as are one third of children. Diabetes is 10 times more prevalent now than during the 1960s, and neurological diseases, depression, allergies and other afflictions are all on the rise.

“We have massive health problems in this country that we must face honestly,” Kennedy said. “There’s no such thing as Republican or Democratic children. Why can’t we agree with each other to put our differences with these intractable issues aside and say we’re going to end this?”


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