4.30.25 – Bryan Eagle
“Kennedy, Rollins Praise Texas A&M for Improving Nutrition”
By Joe Southern
Excerpts from this article:
U.S. Department of Agriculture [USDA] Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services [HHS] Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. praised the work being done at Texas A&M University to improve nutrition in the nation’s food supply during a visit to College Station on Tuesday [4.29.25].
“What we talked about was all of the work that A&M has done and the groundbreaking and world-changing and transformative effort to not only feed America, but to feed the world,” Rollins said at a press conference following tours of the Norman E. Borlaug Building and the AgriLife Phenotyping Greenhouse.
PRAISE OF TEXAS A&M’S AGRICULTURE PROGRAMS
“I was really blown away by the commitment of this university to make nutrition the centerpiece of agricultural policy,” Kennedy said.
“…they’re developing cooking programs, and they’re developing strains of corn that have super levels of antioxidants in them. They’re focusing on providing nutrition for the American people.
“… the one thing that Secretary Rollins and I really ask is, ‘how do we replicate this program across the country?’”
“…when we visit other agricultural colleges, how do we get them involved at the level that Texas A&M is involved?”
“I think that’s one of the things that is my takeaway…how do we do what they’re doing here, all over the country?”
Among the topics they discussed were revising dietary guidelines, funding for specialty crops, budget cuts, departmental restructuring, food safety and chronic diseases.
RESHAPING THE FOOD PYRAMID
Brooke Rollin, a 1994 Texas A&M graduate, said the USDA is tasked with updating the nation’s dietary guidelines, first known as the food pyramid, every five years.
This year she has enlisted Kennedy’s help.
“We’re … changing the game and changing the structure on how we’re building those [Food Pyramid] dietary guidelines,” she said.
“Nearly 100 million Americans are obese in a country of 340 million and the instances of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and other diet-related diseases are on the rise -- particularly in children and adolescents.”
“The 10th edition of these dietary guidelines is an important milestone. Secretary Kennedy and I plan to make the most of this milestone; to encourage healthy outcomes.”
“And the partnerships of organizations … like here at Texas A&M, will be paramount to achieving that goal. This edition will be concise and user friendly.”
Kennedy stated, “Traditionally, the dietary guidelines have been a political document. When I raised my children, the top rung on the food pyramid was Fruit Loops.”
“And clearly they didn’t have nutrition in mind. …today we’re changing that.”
“When the Trump administration started, we were handed dietary guidelines that were completed by the Biden administration -- 453 pages. It was unreadable, and it was a political document. We are rewriting that now.”
“We’ll have it done by late summer or early autumn. And it’s going to be simple.”
“It’s going to be user friendly, and it’s going to stress the simplicity of local foods, of whole foods, and of healthy foods.”
“We’re going to make it easy for everybody to read and understand, and a lot of our ability to do that comes from research that is done by this institution [Texas A&M].”
100 DAYS AND SNAP
Rollins said she and Kennedy will be in a cabinet meeting with President Donald Trump on Wednesday [4.30.25] to highlight his first 100 days in office.
“Included in that first 100-day achievement list [are] the remarkable partnerships and the movement toward this goal of making America healthy again,” Rollins said.
“For example, at USDA, with the support of HHS, it will be very clear that no longer will taxpayers pay for junk food and sugary drinks for our SNAP [Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program] recipients.”
When we talk about the chronic obesity and the chronic disease, especially amongst our youth and our adolescents, it hits the hardest with those who are the most food challenged.”
“A lot of that is because of our government that is using taxpayer-funded dollars to pay for food which is not nutritious, which is not healthy, and which is making our kids sick.”
Kennedy said he and Rollins have been encouraging states to approve waivers to remove sodas and candy from SNAP benefits.
“We are inviting governors of all the states to apply for waivers to completely end the [sodas and candy] subsidy.”
“Ten percent of food stamps is going to soda drinks,” he said.
“And when Secretary Rollins met with the soda companies, they said to her, ‘Well, you know, SNAP is not supposed to be about nutrition…so why is SNAP paying for it?’”
Secretary Rollins reminded them, “It’s called the Supplemental NUTRITION Assistance Program [SNAP]. It’s supposed to be for NUTRITION. It shouldn’t be paying for soda or for candy.”
MORE FUNDING
Rollins announced that the USDA is releasing $1.3 billion to help market specialty crops such as fruits, vegetables and tree nuts.
“We’re looking to expand the domestic market for our specialty crops,” she said.
“This will continue to be a big focus of the U.S. Department of Agriculture as we’re working to focus on our farmers and our ranchers every single day.”
FOOD SAFETY
Kennedy spoke about the problems with ultra-processed foods and the chemical additives that are pervasive in the nation’s food supply.
“We are revoking the GRAS standards, which is generally recognized as safe,” he said.
“We have 10,000 ingredients in our foods in this country. In Europe, they only have 400.”
“We have that because of the GRAS standards that have been applied for (at the) FDA and captured by the (food) industry.”
“We are now reviewing those. We’re going to review the chemicals that are in our food for safety, and we’re going to stop rubberstamping new chemicals to be added to our food.”
Kennedy mentioned Operation Stork Speed to help mothers get healthy milk for their children.
He then spoke about his plan to ban petroleum-based synthetic dyes.
“This week we announced that we are going to ban, within two years, all petroleum-based synthetic dyes from our food.”
“Within two months, we are going to ban two of the worst dyes.”
“…Then in six months, another [of the worst dyes]; within two years, all nine of them,” he said.
SCHOOL LUNCH PROGRAMS
Kennedy also talked about improving school lunch programs.
“School lunch programs have deteriorated,” he said.
“About 70% of the food that our children eat is ultra-processed food, which is killing them.”
“It is poison, and we need to stop poisoning our kids and making sure that Americans once again are the healthiest kids on the planet.”
DISEASES LINKED TO U. S. FOOD SYSTEM
Kennedy also talked about how rapidly the food system has impacted the health of many Americans.
“When I was a 10-year-old boy, my uncle [John F. Kennedy] was president, 3% of Americans had chronic disease, and we spent zero on chronic disease,” he said.
“Today, 60% of Americans have chronic disease, and we spend about $1.7 trillion, most of it treating chronic disease.”
“It’s a huge part of our economy. The cost of managing chronic disease is growing 2% every year — greater than the growth of our economy. It is unsustainable…”
“Seventy-four percent [74%] of American kids cannot qualify for military service, and much of the problem is rooted in our food system — a food system that has transitioned to chemical-based food-like substances and very, very chemical-intensive agriculture.”
And I’m delighted to see the commitment that this, this storied institution [Texas A&M], has to transitioning away from those systems and back toward healthy food.”
STREAMLINING THE USDA
Rollins was asked about the impact of budget cuts on all federal agencies.
She said it is important to evaluate all of the USDA’s programs to make sure they are serving their intended purpose and to eliminate those that are wasting taxpayer dollars.
“Just at USDA, we’ve canceled hundreds of millions of dollars in contracts; things like studying the menstrual cycle of transgender mice, sending money to New York City to support transgender farmers, and studying food justice.”
“These are not programs. Some people may think they were important in the last administration. Our administration does not,” she said.
Rollins said she wants to focus on farmers and ranchers and making sure the country has a safe, nutritious food supply.
“If we no longer have food security, we no longer have national security,” she said.