President Donald Trump’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission issued its first report on childhood health Thursday, creating concerns in the agriculture community about what it could mean for the future of crop protection tools.
Making the announcement at the White House with President Trump, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy said the report is a call to action for common sense. “It’s common sense that we can celebrate the innovations of modern life while also demanding fearless inquiry into ameliorating the negative effects of medication, agriculture and farming practices,” said Kennedy.
Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins stressed the role of farmers and ranchers in the MAHA movement. “We all know that at the center of making America healthy again is making American agriculture great again,” said Rollins.
“I have to say we have the greatest farmers in the world and we love our farmers and we want to pay respect to our farmers and we always will,” said President Trump as he introduced Sen. Roger Marshall (R-KS), who also stressed the farmers’ role. “It does start with the farmer, it starts with soil health and I just want you to know that our farmers are so committed to this as well and and so many of them are already doing great things. They’re making the soil healthier, they’re using less pesticides, they’re doing all the right things. It’s going to take a little bit more effort and time to get everybody with those practices. But the American farmer and rancher were the original environmentalists, the original conservationists.”
Listen to the announcement here:
MAHA Report Announcement 19:54