YORKTON - Sometimes when reality hits home you just shake your head and think to yourself ‘you had to see this coming?’
Take for example concerns by at least some American farm groups that the federal Make America Healthy Again report, released recently, misrepresents the work of farmers.
Under the headline ‘U.S. farm groups call Kennedy’s ‘MAHA’ report unscientific, fear-based’ producer.com reported, “The Make America Healthy Again Report is filled with fear-based rather than science-based information about pesticides,” said the National Corn Growers Association in a report.
Surprised about such a thing?
Not a bit when you realize the report, was overseen by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Kennedy is one of the Donald Trump appointed US Secretaries that has to have rationale thinkers shaking their heads. The guy is a noted ‘anti-vaxer’—he rose to prominence, (some might suggest notoriety), during the COVID-19 pandemic because of his strident opposition to vaccines so you know his trust of science is already skewed in a rather dangerous direction.
With that in mind to have suspected the so-called MAHA report to rely on science would have been a stretch.
As Trump and his administration has already proven facts have little to do with their form of governance.
The MAHA report is no different relying more on rhetoric and fear than offering scientific evidence.
Now to be fair Kennedy has said there is a national crisis of increasing rates of childhood obesity, diabetes, cancer, mental health disorders, allergies and neurodevelopmental conditions like autism, and at least some of those things are true.
There are of course many factors involved – things like an increasingly sedentary lifestyle where playgrounds are often replaced with cellphone screens and carbonated sodas are cheaper than milk – so to point fingers at farmers might seem unfair.
Certainly the report was not glowing in terms of pesticides such as glyphosate.
But American farm groups have condemned the report’s stance on pesticides as anti-science and unfair to the agriculture sector.
There is certainly much science suggesting glyphosate is safe, although not all to be sure. In some respects one is left to look at the data and then ask who paid for the research in drawing conclusions.
But the Trump administration seems to be rather obviously supportive of big business, and to reducing government watchdog agencies, and loosening rules and regulations seen to impede business so how Kennedy would balance that with tighter controls on pesticides is a huge question?
Ditto to the MAHA report taking aim at ‘ultra-processed foods’ which again are firmly in the realm of big business.
Ultimately though, trusting Kennedy in such things – even areas he might seem to be on the right track – is a leap given his personal track record and the spectre of Trump looming in the shadows.
