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MAHA report draws criticism from ag groups

On May 22, the Trump administration released the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission Report, the report exposes a range of contributing factors to what it called childhood chronic disease crisis. Among these, the report references poor diet, accumulation of environmental toxins, insufficient physical activity, chronic stress, and overmedicalization.

The commission is tasked with creating a strategy to present to the White House by Aug.12.

The report drew widespread criticism from agricultural groups, including the American Farm Bureau Federation (AFBF), the National Association of Wheat Growers (NAWG), the American Soybean Association (ASA), the National Corn Growers Association (NCGA) and leadership from the House and Senate agriculture committees.

“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,” AFBF President Zippy Duvall said. “Farmers are identified as ‘critical partners,’ yet were excluded from development of the report, despite many requests for a seat at the table. The report also expresses a desire to ensure farmers continue to thrive, but undermining confidence in our food system directly contradicts that noble goal. The report spotlights outlier studies and presents unproven theories that feed a false narrative and only then does it acknowledge a mountain of evidence about the safety of our food system.”

House Agriculture Committee Chairman Glenn Thompson (R-Pennsylvania) and Senate Ag Committee Chairman John Boozman (R-Arkansas) issued a joint statement in which they emphasized the importance of moving “forward in a manner that avoids undermining the very systems that allow American farmers to produce the safest, most abundant, and affordable food in the world. It is imperative that we do not stray from the risk-based and scientific processes set forth by Congress.”

NAWG President Pat Clements issued a statement expressing concerns that the report would negatively affect public sentiment toward farmers. 

“Unfortunately, the report contains misleading claims that could undermine public trust in our nation’s food system,” Clements said.

The ASA decried the MAHA report, calling it unscientific and saying it would ultimately make Americans less healthy.

“Both farmers and members of Congress tried to warn the administration that activist groups were trying to hijack the MAHA Commission to advance their longstanding goal of harming U.S. farmers. Reading this report, it appears that is exactly what has happened,” ASA Director Alan Meadows said.

The NCGA issued a statement in which it took the administration to task for issuing “fear-based rather than science-based information about pesticides. We are deeply troubled that claims of this magnitude are being made without any scientific basis or regard for a long history of EPA expert evaluations of these products.

The MAHA report can be read in its entirety here.

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