MAHA report parrots pesticide industry playbook, abandoning RFK Jr.’s promises

Today, the Trump Administration’s Make American Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission officially released its “Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy.”

Despite the Commission’s initial call to “act decisively” to “begin reversing the childhood chronic disease crisis,” the final published strategy does nothing to counteract the Trump Administration’s erosion of the very federal agencies, programs, and funding that support children’s health.

In response, Kari Hamerschlag, Deputy Director of the Food and Agriculture Program at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement:

It’s deeply disappointing that Trump’s MAHA Commission report has the agrochemical industry’s fingerprints all over it. This report is not a roadmap for improving children’s health — it’s a green light for increased agribusiness profits at the expense of our communities, environment, and children’s well-being.

While there are some positive but tepid recommendations on whole foods, organics, conservation and regenerative agriculture, these ring hollow given the Administration’s massive cuts to healthy school meals, local food infrastructure, and conservation programs. Perhaps most galling is the report’s promotion of “shovel-ready conservation projects already planned on farms” after the Trump Administration cancelled billions of dollars’ worth of conservation projects already underway on farms across America.

If the Administration is serious about its recommendations on food and agriculture, it should start by restoring funding and investing even more in healthy, scratch-cooked school meals and regional infrastructure and markets for local farmers and ranchers. USDA also needs to fully fund and expand conservation agriculture programs that reduce use of toxic pesticides and reform its own food purchasing programs by sourcing from organic and regenerative farmers and phasing out processed meat and ultra processed food.

Sarah Starman, Senior Food & Agriculture Campaigner at Friends of the Earth, issued the following statement:

The report released by Trump’s MAHA Commission today is a slap in the face to the millions of Americans, from health-conscious moms to environmental advocates to farmers, who have been calling for meaningful action on pesticides.

There isn’t a single recommendation in the report that would meaningfully reduce our exposure to dangerous pesticides like atrazine that are linked to cancer, hormone disruption, and infertility. The report barely mentions organic farming, despite the fact that organic is the clearest pathway to transforming our food system into one that is healthy and nontoxic.

Laughably, the report calls the EPA’s lax, flawed, and notoriously industry-friendly pesticide regulation process ‘robust.’ This, in spite of the fact that EPA currently allows more than 1 billion pounds of pesticide use on U.S. crops each year, including the use of 85 pesticides that are banned in other countries because of the serious risks they pose to human health and the environment. The American public deserves better than hollow assurances. We deserve a plan that would actually fix the EPA’s broken processes, curb the influence of the chemical industry over the agency, and decrease our exposure to toxic pesticides.

Under the Trump Administration, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has eliminated or gutted numerous programs that would advance the MAHA Commission’s purported objectives around healthier food and farming systems:

• In March, the USDA axed the Local Food for Schools program and the Local Food Purchase Assistance Program, slashing more than $1 billion in funding for fresh whole foods from local farmers.

• USDA Secretary Rollins cut thousands of conservation staff that provide critical technical assistance to farmers for regenerative agriculture practices.

• The agency cancelled over a billion dollars in conservation projects.

• USDA has significantly reduced funding or cancelled programs that provide infrastructure and marketing support for small farmers and ranchers

• USDA eliminated all Farm to School funding for FY 25, making it harder for schools to put healthy, local food on kids’ plates.

• in July, Secretary Rollins eliminated the Regional Food Business Centers, a critical support system for local food infrastructure, small-scale meat producers, and regenerative farmers resources.

• Secretary Rollins is withholding $50 million from farmers for sustainable agriculture research and demonstration projects that advance regenerative and organic farming practices.

Under the Trump Administration, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) has entrenched industry influence and rolled back or eliminated numerous environmental rules that protect people from toxic exposures. Here are a few examples:

• Appointed chemical industry executives and Big Ag lobbyists to key posts overseeing chemical regulation at the EPA

• Lynn Ann Dekleva, who previously spent over thirty years at chemical giant DuPont and lobbied for the American Chemistry Council, appointed to oversee new chemicals

• Kyle Kunkler, who was previously a pro-pesticide lobbyist for the American Soybean Association, appointed to oversee pesticide regulation

• Rolled back protections from PFAS and terminated funding for research into forever chemicals like PFAS.

• Pushed to re-register additional uses of the dangerous pesticide dicamba, despite the fact that they have been banned twice by federal courts. Dicamba is linked to serious health impacts like cancer.

• Eliminated the Office of Research and Development, laying off hundreds of scientists that provided critical expertise and guidance on protecting human health and the environment from toxic chemicals

• In March 2025, EPA Administrator Zeldin announced plans to rescind or weaken 31 significant environmental regulations targeting clean air, clean water, climate change, vehicle emissions, and more.