Ag strategies included in MAHA recommendations

WASHINGTON — The Make America Healthy Again Commission released its policy recommendation aimed at addressing chronic childhood disease.

The “Make Our Children Healthy Again” strategy did not make any regulatory changes as was anticipated, but instead called for government agencies to conduct further research on a broad range of issues related to health. No funding plans were included in the final draft.

The strategy unveiled on Sept. 9 did not propose new pesticide regulations, as was noted in Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s preliminary report issued in May, but did recommend research in consumers’ chemical exposure levels and promoting precision technology with the goal of reducing herbicide use in agriculture.

Key Focus Areas

Restoring Science and Research: Expanding National Institutes of Health and agency research into chronic disease prevention, nutrition and metabolic health, food quality, environmental exposures, autism, gut microbiome, precision agriculture, rural and tribal health, vaccine injury, and mental health.

Historic Executive Actions: Reforming dietary guidelines; defining ultra-processed foods; improving food labeling; closing the Generally Recognized as Safe loophole; raising infant formula standards; removing harmful chemicals from the food supply; increasing oversight and enforcement of direct-to-consumer prescription drug advertising laws; improving food served in schools and hospitals and to veterans; and reforming Medicaid quality metrics to measure health outcomes.

Process Reform and Deregulation: Streamlining organic certification; easing barriers to farm-to-school programs and direct-to-consumer sales; restoring whole milk in schools; supporting mobile grocery and processing units; modernizing Food and Drug Administration drug and device approval; and accelerating Environmental Protection Agency approvals for innovative agricultural products.

Public Awareness and Education: Launching school-based nutrition and fitness campaigns, Surgeon General initiatives on screen time, prioritizing pediatric mental health, and expanding access to reliable nutrition and health information for parents.

Private Sector Collaboration: Promoting awareness of healthier meals at restaurants, soil health and land stewardship, and community-led initiatives, and scaling innovative solutions to address root causes of chronic disease.

Agriculture Strategies

There were several references to agriculture production included in the final strategy recommendations related to foster private sector collaboration.

Soil Health and Stewardship of the Land — U.S. Department of Agriculture and EPA will promote and incentivize farming solutions in partnership with the private sector that focus on soil health and stewardship of the land. This will include:

• Empowering farmers and keeping solutions voluntary by expanding programs like the Environmental Quality Incentive Program and Conservation Stewardship Program, all while avoiding burdensome mandates; keeping decision making local and practical with solutions from the farm, not Washington, D.C.

• Providing producers with information about programs and practices that improve pollinator management and support increased pollinator forage and habitat.

• Strengthening food security and production through the prioritization of the acres of shovel-ready conservation projects already planned by farmers.

• Prioritizing practices that farmers want and trust, like prescribed grazing, soil health systems and water management to keep working lands profitable and productive.

• Emphasizing and prioritizing conservation technical assistance, including the development of personalized advice and information, which could include development and expansion of mobile and digital planning tools for in-field, real-time assistance.

• Providing growers with new tools to maintain and better enable soil health practices, including practices that increase soil organic matter and improve soil composition.

Precision Agriculture — USDA and EPA will launch a partnership with private-sector innovators to ensure continued investment in new approaches and technologies to allow even more targeted and precise pesticide applications. This can support increased crop productivity and reduce the total amount of pesticides needed. These partnerships should focus on precision application methods, including targeted drone applications, computer-assisted targeted spray technology, robotic monitoring and related innovations.

Increasing Public Awareness and Knowledge: Pesticides — EPA, partnering with food and agricultural stakeholders, will work to ensure that the public has awareness and confidence in EPA’s pesticide robust review procedures and how that relates to the limiting of risk for users and the general public and informs continual improvement.

Realigning Incentives and Systems to Drive Health Outcomes Research to Drive Innovation: USDA Nutrition Programs — USDA will use its authorities to prioritize utilization and promotion of whole, healthy foods across its 16 nutrition programs.

Agriculture Deregulation — USDA will take the following actions:

• Streamline organic certification processes and reduce costs for small farms transitioning to organic practices.

• Eliminate unnecessary bureaucratic barriers for Community-Supported Agriculture programs and direct-to-consumer sales.

Burdensome Compliance — The strategy also recommended a reduction in regulatory compliance burdens for small farms by taking the following actions:

• Streamline and digitize USDA application processes.

• Generate reliable access to credit.

• Improve land acquisition and permitting processes.

• Promote transition to the next generation of farmers.

• Provide greater access to markets and infrastructure.

• Enhance risk management and business planning tools.

• Enhance and promote educational series.

In addition, the strategy recommends improving the farm-to-school grants application process to better connect local producers to schools.

Food Deregulation

The strategy asked the Department of Health and Human Services, FDA and USDA to take the following actions:

• Remove restrictions on whole milk sales in schools, allowing districts to offer full-fat dairy options alongside reduced-fat alternatives.

• Eliminate mandatory reduced-fat requirements in federal nutrition programs to allow consumer choice.

• Remove barriers preventing small dairy operations from processing and selling their own milk products locally.

• Eliminate zoning restrictions that prevent mobile grocery units from serving food deserts.

• Fast-track permits for grocery stores in underserved areas.

• Work with grocers on sustainable incentive programs that provide fresh, frozen, canned, or dried fruits and vegetables.

• Provide additional guidance on Hazard Analysis Critical Control Points requirements for very small meat processors serving local markets that ease compliance while maintaining safety standards.

• Provide additional support for mobile processing units serving multiple small farms.

• Provide support for health-care providers from discussing nutrition and lifestyle interventions with patients.

• Reform outdated and unnecessary food standards of identity that stifle innovation and no longer protect consumer interests due to the FDA concluding they are obsolete and unnecessary.

• Ensure the use of gold standard science for regulatory decision-making and update outdated methodologies as necessary.