'Hypocrisy': Furious farmers accuse Trump's top ally of 'throwing mud' at them

American farmers are growing disillusioned with Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s "Make America Healthy Again" agenda, according to a new analysis.

President Donald Trump won the support of small farmers in 2024 with his promises to improve wages and lower inflation, and many were optimistic about Kennedy's messaging around improving diet and nutrition. But he has instead cast doubt on established industrial farming practices as Health and Human Services secretary, reported the New York Times.

"As someone who lives in a rural part of the country among many who share the goals of the MAHA movement, I’m keenly aware of the frustration some in the agricultural community are feeling," wrote journalist Eoin Higgins for the Times. "I talked to many farmers over the past three months, and they all found Mr. Kennedy’s hypocrisy troubling. His unwillingness to stand up to policies within his own administration that undermine American farmers suggests, to them, that he is either too meek to push back or disingenuous about his commitment to his goals."

"Either way, Mr. Kennedy’s response to farmers thus far indicates his MAHA agenda isn’t really about meaningful impact," Higgins added, "it’s a rallying cry aimed at keeping himself in power."

Kennedy has made nutrition a core component of his MAHA agenda, and the Food and Drug Administration and the National Institutes of Health are looking into what harms might be caused by ultraprocessed foods and food additives, but the administration's policies have actually made life harder for farmers.

"Look no further than the cancellation in March of the Local Food Purchase Assistance Cooperative Agreement and Local Food for Schools federal programs," Higgins wrote. "Those cuts saved the government about $1 billion but came at the expense of providing schools, child care centers and food banks with fresh food from local farmers. Access to these foods would presumably be part of the solution for reducing diet-related chronic diseases, which MAHA contends are on the rise in underserved communities. The administration killed the program anyway."

Kennedy has remained silent on those moves, which has frustrated farmers, and farmers are also alarmed by his anti-science rhetoric, particularly the MAHA demonization of pesticide use.

“If we want to make America healthy again, can we please start with America and the people that are already doing that?” said Michelle Miller, a former farmer who writes about modern farming practices and policies under the name Farm Babe. “Can we stop throwing mud at the very people that are breaking their backs to feed us? And can we let them do their jobs and can we listen to them?”