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How Could RFK Jr. Challenge Food Monopolies as HHS Secretary?
Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. campaigned on a comprehensive anticorruption platform aimed at reforming U.S. food and health systems. In an October 2024 video filmed outside the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Kennedy explained that “current agricultural policy is destroying America’s health at every level,” citing its detrimental effects on the economic viability of farmers, environmental sustainability, and public health.
He outlined an agenda that includes revising regulations to support smaller producers, promoting sustainable farming practices, and addressing conflicts of interest in USDA dietary panels. Kennedy’s agriculture platform aligns with Farm Action’s mission to build a fair, sustainable, and healthy food system that empowers farmers, workers, and rural communities to feed America.
He has been a staunch critic of the USDA’s corporate entanglement, saying that the agency “represents and promotes the interests of big factory farms and industrial agriculture, of big companies like Monsanto, Cargill, Tyson, Perdue and the big petroleum fertilizer companies… USDA operates full time to punish and destroy the small farmer in this country and to promote the mercantile interests of these big industrial agriculture interests.”
Study Finds Microplastic Contamination in 99% of Seafood Samples
Microplastics contamination is widespread in seafood sampled in a recent study, adding to growing evidence of the dangerous substances’ ubiquity in the nation’s food system, and a growing threat to human health.
The peer-reviewed study detected microplastics in 99%, or 180 out of 182, samples of seafood either bought at the store or from a fishing boat in Oregon. The highest levels were found in shrimp. Researchers also determined the most common type of microplastic were fibers from clothing or textiles, which represented over 80% of the substance they detected.
The findings highlight a serious problem with plastic use at its current scale, said Elise Granek, a Portland State University microplastics researcher and study co-author.
“As long as we’re using plastic as a major component in our daily lives and we’re using it in a widespread fashion, then we’re going to see them in our food, too,” Granek said.
Commercials During NFL Games Promote Unhealthy Food, Study Finds
Super Bowl commercials always draw a lot of attention for their humor and creativity. But the underlying message of many of them might not be good for your health.
A new study of food advertising found that the food advertised during NFL games generally promotes unhealthy food options.
The findings, published by researchers from Saint Louis University and the University of Nevada, Reno School of Medicine in JAMA Network, analyzed the nutritional content of foods advertised during televised NFL games, which are among the most-watched sporting events in the U.S. The study focused on the impact of advertising and sponsorships on consumer behavior, particularly among adults with conditions such as heart failure, coronary artery disease, hypertension, diabetes, and kidney failure.
The results showed that foods promoted during NFL games are often high in sodium, calories and fat, contributing to excessive dietary intake. The study concludes that this trend is particularly concerning given the lack of regulations on the frequency of such advertisements.
‘God-Intended Foods’ Are Key to a Healthier America, Expert Says
The Make America Healthy Again, or MAHA movement, led by Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary nominee Robert F. Kennedy Jr., aims to improve the health of all Americans. The goal has been broken down into a few key areas, including nutrition and food safety. In an on-camera interview with Fox News Digital, Jason Karp, CEO of HumanCo, a Texas-based health and wellness holding company, stressed the need for these changes. “And I think it is literally an existential threat in terms of our ability to survive and bear the costs of this.”
Humans are the “sickest we’ve ever been” in history, especially in the U.S., according to Karp. “Diabetes has never been higher. Heart disease has never been higher. Obesity has never been higher,” he said. “Mental health disorders, including depression, suicidality, ADHD and autism, have never been higher.” “We should not be poisoning people, and this should not be a partisan issue.”
Karp added, “And yet we exercise more than we ever have. We know more scientifically than we ever have. We have more pharmaceuticals and medical devices and medical interventions and treatments than we ever had. And we’re spending more money per capita than we ever had.” Karp suggested that it’s “pretty logical that what we’re doing is not working,” in terms of caring for the health of Americans.
Is Your Backyard Chicken Flock Putting You at Risk for Bird Flu?
Interest in raising backyard chickens grew rapidly during the COVID-19 pandemic and continues due to the ever-increasing cost of store-bought eggs. But the same H5N1 bird flu that has led to the culling of millions of chickens, ducks and other birds in commercial flocks also has impacted backyard flocks in every state since the outbreak began in Feb. 2022, including more than 20 states in the last 30 days, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
And while backyard flocks tend to be much smaller than commercial enterprises, they account for 37% of the 113 flocks where birds have been tested and confirmed to have bird flu. In early January, Louisiana officials reported that an older male resident with underlying health issues exposed to backyard and wild birds had become the first and so far only person in the U.S. to die after contracting bird flu.
“The risk to the public is still low,” says Samuel Scarpino, an expert in pathogen surveillance and director of Northeastern’s AI + Life Sciences. “But if you have chickens or ducks, even in small numbers, you need to be really cautious,” he says.
Thousands Condemn U.S. And Canada Attempt to Force Mexicans to Eat GMO Tortillas
Friends of the Earth reported:
As Mexico responds today to the trade dispute panel’s ruling that its restrictions on genetically engineered (GMO) corn violate the U.S.-Mexico-Canada (USMCA) trade agreement, an internationally-supported statement signed by 10,268 individuals and 698 organizations stands with Mexico in its defense of food sovereignty, public health, environmental integrity and indigenous rights.
As Friends of the Earth U.S. demonstrated in its formal scientific comments to the USMCA trade tribunal, Mexico has ample cause for concern about the safety of GMO corn given the population’s large daily consumption of minimally processed corn products such as tortillas. Health risks linked to GMO corn and the herbicides it’s engineered to withstand include reproductive, developmental, neurological, metabolic, microbiome and GI tract-related harms.
The petition asserts that Mexico’s democratically elected government should have the right to take measures to protect its people, local farmers, economic development and the environment from the risks posed by GMO corn imported from the U.S.
How Gluten-Free Processed Foods Put People With Celiac Disease at Risk
People with celiac disease face a food paradox. Gluten-free bagels, brownie mixes, and frozen burritos beckon from grocery store shelves. Yet despite this abundance, they can’t trust that these foods are actually safe to eat. The story of how the food industry went gaga for gluten-free products, putting the health of people with celiac at risk in the process, takes center stage in Emily Abel’s new book, “Gluten Free for Life: Celiac Disease, Medical Recognition, and the Food Industry.”
The underlying issues range from inaccurate food labels to a culture that often treats gluten-free eating as a lifestyle choice rather than a medical requirement — giving food manufacturers and restaurants more leeway to play fast and loose with the term. (Indeed, sometimes the gluten-free label is randomly attached to foods containing vegetables and fruits, for instance, that one would never expect to contain gluten.)
“A critical feature of the celiac experience is that unless people have the time, skill, money, and inclination to prepare all their meals from basic ingredients, they must rely on an industry that has minimal interest in their well being,” writes Abel, a professor emerita at the Fielding School of Public Health at the University of California, Los Angeles.
