It has been just over two years since Donald Trump and Robert F. Kennedy Jr. launched the Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA, movement. The initiative promised to lower chronic disease rates, reform the food system, and remove harmful chemicals from the environment. According to an NPR report, the administration’s track record on these goals is mixed, leaving many grassroots supporters disillusioned.
Dietary Guidelines and EPA Rollbacks
One area where the administration has seen success is the release of new dietary guidelines. These guidelines mark a departure from previous standards and reflect the MAHA philosophy. They encourage higher consumption of saturated fats and advise people to avoid processed foods. The guidelines also raised daily protein goals. However, they did not change the existing limits on saturated fat intake.
Outside of nutrition, the administration’s approach to environmental health has drawn sharp criticism. Kelly Ryerson, a MAHA activist who runs the nonprofit American Regeneration, stated that she cannot identify a single positive action taken by the Environmental Protection Agency, or EPA, during this period. She cited the rollback of protections against forever chemicals in drinking water and the approval of pesticides that she believes should not be permitted.
Ryerson noted that the EPA has weakened protections around chemicals identified in the Trump administration’s own MAHA report as potentially harmful to children’s health. This contradiction has frustrated many in the movement who expected stricter oversight of toxic substances.
Glyphosate and Corporate Influence
A major point of contention involves glyphosate, the primary ingredient in the weed killer Roundup. Supporters of the MAHA movement had hoped for significant action on the chemical due to cancer concerns. Instead, the administration backed the manufacturer of Roundup in a high-profile Supreme Court case, which the company won. Trump also signed an executive order encouraging the domestic production of the pesticide.
These decisions have disenchanted a segment of the MAHA base. Barry Popkin, a nutrition professor at the University of North Carolina Gillings School of Public Health, observed that while the administration has raised important issues regarding pesticides and ultra-processed foods, it has also taken steps that he considers dangerous. Popkin pointed to the measles outbreaks in recent years, attributing them to a group of people who have refused vaccination, a trend he linked to Kennedy’s public comments.
Popkin also highlighted large foodborne illness outbreaks that have affected thousands of Americans over the last two years. He stated that he has seen no evidence that the administration has made measurable progress in reducing chronic diseases, despite Kennedy’s expectation of such results within two years.
Internal Tensions and Future Outlook
Tensions within the MAHA movement are growing over who gets to define its direction. A recent high-profile summit in Washington, D.C., featured many figures from corporate America. Ryerson described feeling mortified by the event, stating that she no longer recognizes the iteration of MAHA being presented. She emphasized that grassroots supporters specifically want to remove corporate interests from the movement.
The future of the MAHA brand may depend on how the midterms unfold in 2027. For now, the gap between the movement’s original promises and the administration’s policy actions remains a source of significant debate among its supporters.
Source: NPR
