Ag Policy Blog
Kennedy Warns About Ag Chemicals, Says Regenerative Practices Are Needed
OMAHA (DTN) -- In his two days of confirmation hearings before different committees, Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said there are clusters of diseases in rural America tied to farm chemicals that require incentives to give farmers an "off-ramp" from intensive chemical agriculture.
Kennedy, who is nominated to be secretary of Health and Human Services, had more discussions about farming practices and agricultural chemicals in his hearings than the new head of EPA and the nominee to lead USDA.
Kennedy testified Wednesday before the Senate Finance Committee and again in a separate hearing Thursday before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).
Along with Kennedy's views on vaccines and a range of other topics, Kennedy was asked about obesity, chronic diseases, chemicals in food, and ultra-processed foods, which fall under the oversight of the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), which is part of HHS. Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician and chair of the HELP Committee, told Kennedy he "is totally in agreement" on concerns about ultra-processed foods and obesity.
Sen. Lisa Murkowski, R-Alaska, also noted in her comments to Kennedy, "I am particularly attracted by the focus on chronic diseases."
Sen. Roger Marshall, R-Kansas, also a physician, asked Kennedy in each hearing to talk about chronic diseases. Kennedy said the country faces an epidemic of chronic diseases, neurological diseases, allergies and obesity. Genes may have some ties, Kennedy said, but there also is an "environmental toxin" at play.
"Something is poisoning the American people, and we know the primary culprit is our food, our changing food supply -- the switch to highly chemical, intensive-processed foods."
Kennedy noted cereals in Canada and Europe don't have the dyes and ingredients that the same companies use in the U.S. He said these issues also haven't been sufficiently studied. "We need to get a handle on this, because if we don't, it's an existential threat."
Marshall said he also shared Kennedy's concerns about ultra-processed foods, but when it comes to farmers and ranchers, Marshall said they grow what the market wants them to grow.
Kennedy said he had talked to Sen. Josh Hawley, R-Mo., who had indicated his brothers-in-law, who are farmers, have Parkinsons' disease. Kennedy then added, "And that is the kind of cluster we're seeing across farm country of cancers, autoimmune diseases, obesity, etc. It's why we now cannot export American food to Europe because the Europeans won't take our food. That's not good for farmers.
Kennedy added, "We're also destroying our soil because of some of the chemicals that farmers use are destroying the microbiome, and that causes the erosion of the soil. You can't get water infiltration. Water pools up and washes the soil off.
"Agronomists now estimate that we only have -- if we continue doing these processes -- only 60 harvests left before our soil is gone. Farmers are using seeds and chemicals that are -- long term -- are costing them and us."
Kennedy continued, saying the country needs to support farmers to transition. "I don't want to regulate farmers. That's under USDA, but I want to partner with all of my decisions, with USDA and with the farmers, to make sure we don't lose any more farmers in this country."
Kennedy then added, "But we also transition. We offer and incentivize transition to regenerative agriculture, to no-till agriculture and to less chemical investment."
Kennedy said he had met with people in the chemical and fertilizer industry, "and they want the same thing." He added, "I think we're on the trajectory to do that, and we need incentives to accelerate that trajectory."
In his hearing Wednesday, Kennedy said his Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) campaign will not succeed without the support of farmers.
"There is illness all over the farm community and it undoubtedly related to the intensity of chemical pesticides."
Kennedy added, "Farmers are using seeds and chemicals that are over the long term are costing them and us," he said, adding, "We need farmers as partners if we are going to make MAHA work."
Back on the environmental toxins, Kennedy said there should be much more focus on these issues.
"Why aren't we devoting science to finding out what those toxins are and then eliminating them?"
Marshall said Kansas farmers are selling to Europe and are engaged in "regenerative practices soil health. All of those things are priorities for Kansas farmers."
"Many of us are doing those things already. We just need it to be more widespread."
It should be noted the Biden administration spent $3.1 billion to promote climate-smart practices, which included incentives to help farmers convert to no-till production, grow cover crops and reduce chemical inputs. The Inflation Reduction Act also included $19.5 billion to beef up USDA conservation programs long-term in a similar vein.
In the Senate Finance Committee hearing on Wednesday, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, told Kennedy to stick to oversight of food instead of farm production.
"I expect you to leave agricultural practice regulations to the proper agencies, and for the most part that is USDA and EPA," Grassley said.
There was no discussion about oversight of agricultural chemicals during the confirmation hearing for Lee Zeldin, EPA's new administrator.
Members of the Senate Agriculture Committee also did not ask Brooke Rollins about farm chemicals or how she would work with Kennedy when it comes to chemicals in food products.
During Rollins' hearing, Sen. Cory Booker, D-N.J., raised concerns about childhood obesity and tied it to the need for healthier school lunches. Booker told Rollins, "60% of children's calories come from ultra-processed foods. Many of them have unhealthy levels of salt and added sugar."
Rollins said she believes "this is a crisis" and pointed to Kennedy raising that issue as part of Trump's campaign. "I am encouraged that it is now a priority and look forward to working on it with everyone."
Sen. Peter Welch, D-Vt., was the only senator to bring up "regenerative agriculture" during Rollins hearing as well. Welch told Rollins, "So without having the climate discussion, I want to make certain that I can have some confidence that our farmers who are adopting regenerative agriculture practices organic agriculture, are doing things that, by all estimations, make for good, healthy crops, but also reduce carbon emissions that will continue to make that possible, and they'll get paid to do it, not just be passed through regulations to bear the burden."
Chris Clayton can be reached at Chris.Clayton@dtn.com
Follow him on social platform X @ChrisClaytonDTN
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