The Make America Healthy Again movement has quite a few hurdles to jump through with this one.
The Environmental Protection Agency is moving toward approving two new pesticides that contain toxic “forever chemicals.” The chemicals will be used on foods such as potatoes, broccoli, and some varieties of lettuce.
Unfortunately, that’s not all. Earlier this month, EPA chief Lee Zeldin prioritized—once again—the health of businesses over the health of citizens. According to a press release, the EPA relaxed its requirements on businesses to report PFAs in their products.
EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin, shown in May.
“The proposed changes to improve reporting regulations will support Administrator Zeldin’s ‘Powering the Great American Comeback’ initiative by reducing regulatory reporting burdens and providing greater regulatory certainty to industry, resulting in a net reduction in cost while ensuring that EPA receives the PFAS data that are most relevant to the agency,” said the release.
However, this approach to forever chemicals is a flip from Zeldin’s remarks in April, when he expressed concern about these chemicals, known chemically as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS.
“I have long been concerned about PFAS and the efforts to help states and communities dealing with legacy contamination in their backyards,” Zeldin said via a press release.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has also flipped on this topic.
Kennedy previously told his MAHA followers that he would come for pesticide use, saying on Facebook in 2020 that “If my life were a Superman comic, Monsanto would be my Lex Luther,” referring to the agrochemical company that has since been absorbed by Bayer.
However, earlier this year, he said his agency would merely “explore” those issues.
"I have said repeatedly … that we cannot take any step that will put a single farmer in this country out of business," Kennedy said during a Senate hearing in May. “There's a million farmers who rely on glyphosate. One hundred percent of corn in this country relies on glyphosate. We are not going to do anything to jeopardize that business model."
But now, it seems, the promises made to his MAHA supporters wanting a more chemical-free food industry, are no longer promises kept.
