The Department of Health and Human Services released its strategy to address children’s health from its Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission on Tuesday.
This is the second installment of the MAHA report – a highly anticipated follow-up to the report released by the Commission in May. Many farm organizations had said the original document was filled with “fear-based rather than science-based information.”
The latest report offers more than 120 initiatives that will serve as a road map to help address and resolve what Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described as “America’s escalating health crisis, with a focus on childhood chronic diseases.”
Meat is Essential
Meat Institute president and CEO Julie Anna Potts says it’s a good first step toward recognizing the nutritional value of meat and poultry after years of misguided policies attacking meat consumption.
“Science proves what American parents have known all along — nutrient-dense meat and poultry products are essential to a balanced diet,” Potts says. “For years, previous administrations have tried to discourage consumption of meat, primarily for reasons unrelated to nutrition, and as a result our most vulnerable populations – children, adolescent girls, nursing mothers and seniors – no longer consume enough protein and critical nutrients like iron and zinc.”
Chaired by Kennedy Jr., the Commission is tasked with investigating and addressing the root causes of America’s escalating health crisis, with a focus on childhood chronic diseases. The strategy targets actions to advance gold-standard science, realign incentives, increase public awareness, and strengthen private-sector collaboration.
“The bold leadership of Secretary Kennedy and Secretary Rollins will finally give Americans not only permission, but the encouragement to eat meat because it is a good, accessible source of nutrition for their families,” Potts says.
Animal Protein Industry Responds
The Meat Institute, which includes meat packer and processor members of all sizes, large and small, were especially pleased to see the strategy seeks to support adoption of Hazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) food safety protocols.
“It is great to see the coordination between Health and Human Services and the USDA on food safety,” Potts says. “The support for HACCP in the strategy is in addition to the significant food safety investment made by USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins in July. We are so glad the Trump Administration continues to encourage greater adoption of this successful science-based program to enable the industry to better protect consumers.”
National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA) president and cattle producer Buck Wehrbein says American beef is the perfect fit for the MAHA Commission’s goals.
“Our farmers and ranchers raise the best beef in the world, providing a healthy, fresh protein option to millions of families every day,” Wehrbein says. “We responsibly steward millions of acres of land, water and wildlife habitat, including some of America’s most cherished landscapes and species. We pump lifeblood into the local economies of tens of thousands of communities across the rural American heartland.”
NCBA adds that years of peer-reviewed research, including clinical trials, have proven that beef plays a key role in a healthy, balanced diet for Americans of all ages. A single 3-ounce serving of lean beef provides half of Americans’ daily protein needs with 10 essential nutrients, in fewer than 170 calories.
“To receive the same amount of protein from most plant sources, you would have to eat at least twice as many calories,” NCBA explains. “The nutrients in beef, including protein, iron, zinc, and B vitamins, are critical for strengthening muscle, fueling a healthy metabolism, supporting cognitive development, and ensuring healthy living.”
While a balanced diet is essential, numerous studies have shown the quality of protein from animal-based sources far exceeds that found in plant-based foods, Ashley Johnson, National Pork Producers Council (NPPC) director of food policy, explained in July. Lean pork is a heart-healthy protein choice that is versatile, flavorful, affordable, and is protein-packed with essential nutrients.
“Science demonstrates that animal protein provides a complete amino acid profile, including readily absorbable forms of iron and B12, key nutrients that plant-based alternatives lack,” Johnson wrote. “Removing animal proteins from our diet would result in a nutritional gap that plant-based foods cannot fill.”
More Work to Do
NPPC president Duane Stateler, a pork producer from McComb, Ohio, agrees this report shows signs of progress from the initial “Make America Healthy Again” report released in May.
“While agriculture’s voice was widely unheard in the initial MAHA report, we thank the administration for listening to our concerns before releasing the ‘Make Our Children Healthy Again’ strategy. We all want to help our children be healthy, yet there is still more work and understanding for this goal to best be accomplished,” Stateler says.
The strategy incorporates a range of initiatives that risk stigmatizing modern farming while deviating from President Trump’s directives related to food security, safety and affordability, NPPC explains in a release. The regulatory expansion outlined in the report could lead to increased litigation against American businesses, including food and agriculture.
“America’s pork producers need the administration’s continued partnership and receptiveness to agriculture and food industry education,” Stateler says.
NPPC’s recommendations to the MAHA Commission leading up to the strategy’s release included:
- A fair and workable definition for “ultra-processed food”
- Protection of the use of food additives that enhance food safety, shelf life, and nutritional availability
- Exclusion of animal feed from reforms to the “generally recognized as safe” standard, to protect animal health
- Adoption of a risk-based approach – versus hazard-based – for determining the safety of technologies used in food production
When the initial MAHA Commission report was released in May, NPPC warned against the dangerous language used to describe the work of farmers feeding our nation, and NPPC has offered to partner in transparent, risk-based research to further public health.
