Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has long voiced concerns about corn syrup and vegetable oils, saying they lead to obesity and chronic illness, and he would have the authority over the Food and Drug Administration to potentially place limits on those products' use — and disrupt American agriculture, reported the New York Times.
"When Donald J. Trump said Robert F. Kennedy Jr. could 'go wild' on health, he might not have expected his pick for health secretary doing battle against the president-elect’s own voters," wrote reporter Jonathan Weisman.
Federal crop subsidies for corn, soy and wheat artificially lower their costs, so byproducts like corn syrup are widely used in everything from soft drinks to bread, and the crop engineering that makes grain more drought-resistant have made it less nutritious. Kennedy has specifically blamed Democratic policies for the state of U.S. grain production.
High-fructose corn syrup “is just a formula for making you obese and diabetic,” Kennedy has said in the past.
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“A little change in supply or demand has a larger impact than you think it would,” said Rodney M. Weinzierl, the executive director of the Illinois Corn Growers Association. “Abrupt change is a huge issue in the rural economy. We need demand.”
A dozen agricultural workers from Decatur, Illinois, spoke to a New York Times reporter about Kennedy's campaign to “make America healthy again,” but most of them expressed confidence that Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk had their best interests at heart.
“It’d be impacted,” said one mill worker about Kennedy's views on corn byproducts, “but they produce so many other products.”
“Elon will figure it out,” said his friend.