When Cosmetic Reforms Replace Real Public Health
Why modest food wins cannot outweigh deregulation, rising costs, and silence on real harms
The “Make America Healthy Again” movement has a few small wins. Some artificial food dyes are gone. There is slightly more transparency on labels. They sometimes claim credit for the decline of trans fats, even though that shift was driven by the FDA years ago.
These wins are real, but they are modest. I am not especially interested in engaging the vaccine conversation here, though much of what passes for discourse in that space feels juvenile and unserious.
Some in the psychedelic community stayed quiet about MAHA after receiving vague signals from RFK’s camp that psychedelics might be part of the agenda, even though no concrete commitments were ever made.
These ‘wins’ do not offset the larger damage being done.
Deregulation continues.
EPA rollbacks increase air, water, and soil pollution. PFAS-based “forever“ chemicals are approved and protected despite their persistence in the human body and the environment. PFAS pesticide approval.
Glyphosate and Roundup remain widely federally protected even after years of court cases and evidence linking them to serious harm.
The plastics crisis accelerates this exposure, with microplastics now present in food, water, and human tissue. Most of us having a plastic spoon sized amount in our brain!!
These forces are not abstract.
They contribute directly to rising rates of cancer, endocrine disruption, autoimmune disease, and chronic illness across the population.
Insurance costs radically rise in 2026. Affordability pushes people toward difficult health choices.
A few ingredient changes cannot counter those forces.
I also accept that incrementalism is realistic. Large systems rarely change all at once. But if MAHA wants to claim the mantle of health, it has a responsibility to speak out against policies that clearly undermine it. That includes regulatory rollbacks, environmental degradation, and public health decisions advanced by its own political allies in Washington.
It is not enough to celebrate small wins while staying silent on larger losses. If the movement truly cares about health, it cannot limit itself to what is easy or symbolic. It must also oppose what is plainly making the country less healthy, even when that opposition is uncomfortable.