In January 2019, at the age of 36, I was diagnosed with metastatic cancer. Amid all of the fear and worry over my health and my future, my biggest question was, “why did this happen?”
Now, President Trump’s Make America Healthy Again Commission has been established to uncover the causes of the epidemic of chronic disease in our nation’s young people, particularly children, and to do something about it.
The MAHA Commission’s assessment report marks a historic recognition of a crisis decades in the making: The American diet, shaped by a highly consolidated food system dominated by a handful of corporations, is fueling a chronic-disease crisis. Crucially, the report emphasizes that American farmers must be at the center of the nation’s health. As the sixth-generation on my own family’s farm, I couldn’t agree more.
American farmers have contributed to an abundant and affordable food supply, but a growing share of the value created by farmers’ work has been captured by major food manufacturers, processors and retailers. This concentration of corporate power has not only weakened rural economies and limited market access for farmers, it has reshaped the American diet around government-subsidized, ultra-processed products that contribute to rising rates of chronic illnesses.
This crisis would not be what it is without decades of unchecked mergers and acquisitions. A handful of companies now control most of the U.S. food and farm sectors, so they decide how farmers farm and what consumers eat. The way out is by investing in healthier local food systems and enforcing antitrust laws.
The government, the nation’s largest food purchaser, should spend its funds with producers who use regenerative, organic and grass-fed practices. Pairing this with stronger country-of-origin meat labeling and forcing the breakup of multinational monopolies will help reshape our system and allow farmers to feed their neighbors again.
The MAHA Commission’s report notes how powerful corporate interests have manipulated public policy to serve industry profits over public health. To undo that influence, we must reject current attempts by pesticide companies to shield themselves from accountability; oppose legislation (such as the EATS Act) that strips local governments of their authority; and reform USDA’s commodity checkoff programs, which feed farmer dollars into the pockets of lobbying groups, including many of those opposing the work of the MAHA Commission. And we should implement a mandatory cooling-off period for those employees moving between USDA and the agribusinesses the agency regulates.
As the administration examines pesticides for its 2026 health assessment, the process must be free of conflicts of interest. In the meantime, we can gain independence from multinational chemical suppliers by putting a priority on diversified, low-input systems (such as organic, non-GMO and regenerative) that offer similar or greater productivity and profitability compared to conventional models. Moreover, practices like cover cropping, rotational grazing and composting help build long-term soil health, improve water retention and increase farm resilience. With the right policy support, these models can form the backbone of a food system that enables farmers to be the drivers of improved health outcomes.
Finally, if we want more healthy foods, the government must invest in them. Current taxpayer-backed farm programs drive the production of commodity field crops such as corn and soybeans. Farmers have shown up to the task of producing these crops, but it’s been at the expense of more nutritious crops such as fruits, vegetables, nuts and whole grains, which are deemed “specialty crops.” These programs are undermining food security and increasing our agriculture trade deficit as we rely on other countries for fruits and vegetables.
The crops the government chooses to subsidize with our tax money will be most accessible for Americans. Today, those are ingredients for ultra-processed foods and feed for livestock.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has said, “a healthy person has a thousand dreams; a sick person only has one.” I know too well the truth in these words. There is nothing more important for the future of our country than for our elected officials to set aside political differences, shake off undue corporate influence and rise to this opportunity to put American farmers, not corporate profits, at the center of our nation’s health.
Angela Huffman is a co-founder and president of Farm Action. She has spent 15 years in food and agriculture policy reform and market development, and raises sheep on her family’s sixth-generation farm in Ohio.
