MAHA Strategy released

This week, the Make Our Children Healthy Again Strategy Report was released by the White House. The document was promoted as the final outline of Federal actions to improve the health of America’s children. 

Vince Haley, Director of the Domestic Policy Council: Today's report outlines a bold framework to improve children's health through 128 targeted directives and strategies."

In a departure from the preliminary assessment issued in May, the report avoids recommending limits on pesticide use in agriculture. 

The report describes the Environmental Protection Agency’s current processes and methods as robust,and encourages continued study and monitoring the effects of ag chemicals on children. 

The report also promotes reform of the review process without specifying what the reforms would be.

Exposure to chemicals was identified as a concern, but few changes to current policy were proposed in the strategy. Language on the health risks of pesticides used in agriculture that appeared in the initial MAHA report in May, did not appear in the strategy document released this week. Glyphosate and atrazine, which were specifically discussed in the May report, were not mentioned in the strategy document. 

CropLife America, a trade association of agrochemical companies, the National Corn Growers Association, and the American Farm Bureau Federation all issued positive reviews of the strategy.

The document emphasized the need to improve the nutrition and activity level of American children, pointing to rising rates of obesity as a concern.

For Market to Market, I’m Peter Tubbs.