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Inside RFK Jr’s Conflicted Attempt to Rid America of Junk Food
Over the space of the last year, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has made the term “ultra-processed foods” something of a household phrase. Once a term only used by nutritionists and food policy researchers to describe the most processed foods in the supply chain (think: chips and sodas, packaged bread, microwave dinners and even some yogurts), ultra-processing has become a calling card of the “Make America Healthy Again” (MAHA) movement.
The movement, which is focused on addressing “America’s escalating health crisis” by investigating food, pharmaceuticals, vaccines and environmental contaminants (and has frequently platformed pseudoscience), found a home in Donald Trump’s administration after Kennedy endorsed the president.
Despite this rhetoric, experts are skeptical that ultra-processed foods will go anywhere. Rather than reining in ultra-processing, the Trump administration’s food policy has mostly undermined MAHA’s stated goals.
The first report of the MAHA commission made headlines in May when it raised concerns about a “chronic disease crisis” in children. Echoing language that Kennedy campaigned on, the report argued that “the American diet has shifted dramatically toward ultra-processed foods” and that “nearly 70% of children’s calories now come from UPFs, contributing to obesity, diabetes, and other chronic conditions.”
Trump Administration, Reversing Itself, Won’t Rewrite a Ban on Asbestos
The about-face came after a public outcry over plans to reconsider Biden-era restrictions on the carcinogenic material. President Trump speaking to reporters last week. In a court case, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) withdrew a plan to review and potentially delay asbestos restrictions.
The Trump administration has withdrawn its plan to rewrite a ban on the
last type of asbestos still used in the U.S. The Biden-era ban was a victory for health advocates who had long fought to prohibit the carcinogenic mineral in all its forms. Last month the Trump administration said it planned to reconsider the asbestos ban, which would have delayed its implementation by several years. But late Monday, it withdrew that filing.
“The agency has further reconsidered,” the EPA said in the filing in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit, and would no longer rework the asbestos ban. The filing is part of a court case brought by the industry challenging the restrictions.
Chrysotile asbestos, known as “white asbestos,” is banned in more than 50 countries for its link to lung cancer and mesothelioma, a cancer that forms in the linings of internal organs. White asbestos, however, has been imported for use in the U.S. for roofing materials, textiles and cement. It is also used in gaskets, clutches, brake pads and other automotive parts, as well as in chlorine manufacturing.
New Mexico Seeks Accountability From U.S. Military for Toxic PFAS Pollution
Environmental Health News reported:
A federal judge has allowed New Mexico’s lawsuit against Cannon Air Force Base to move forward, positioning it as a key test case in national efforts to hold the military liable for PFAS groundwater contamination. New Mexico’s lawsuit, filed in 2024, claims the U.S. Air Force contaminated groundwater near Clovis with PFAS chemicals from firefighting foam, impacting health, agriculture, and property values.
The case, now part of multi-district litigation in South Carolina, could set precedent for holding the military and chemical manufacturers liable under federal Superfund law.
State officials argue the pollution threatens the Ogallala Aquifer, Eastern New Mexico’s primary water source, and say delay from the Air Force endangers long-term water security.
“We’re fighting for families who lost loved ones or the family farm, who worry about letting their children drink contaminated water, or who are now upside down on a mortgage because PFAS contamination caused their property values to crater.”
— James Kenney, New Mexico Environment Department Secretary
Supreme Court Suspends Injunction Preventing RFK Jr.’s HHS Cuts
The high court’s order blocks a May decision by a California court that temporarily blocked the efforts of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to drastically reduce the size of his agency’s workforce. The U.S. Supreme Court issued a stay in favor of the Trump administration on Tuesday, allowing the sweeping reorganizations of federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, to proceed.
A California court in May temporarily suspended the government’s efforts to drastically reduce its workforce — a move that would have seen more than 10,000 employees laid off at the HHS. In its order on Tuesday, the high court reversed this decision, contending that the government is “likely to succeed” in arguing that the reductions in force, carried out through a February executive order, are “lawful.”
“We express no view on the legality of any Agency RIF and Reorganization Plan produced or approved pursuant to the Executive Order,” the Supreme Court said.
