According to a report from Politico, the Trump administration won’t be cracking down on pesticide use in the U.S. despite a report led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. that called crop protection products dangerous to people’s health.
Ag industry lobbyists have been pushing back against the report issued by Kennedy’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Committee, which says pesticides are linked to cancer and other diseases.
During a recent policy roundtable in Washington, D.C., seven out of the ten speakers mentioned how important pesticides, fertilizers, and other crop protection products are in modern agricultural production systems.
A White House official, speaking anonymously to Politico, says a plan for acting on that report is due in August and won’t include new policies on pesticide use.
The promise may signal that President Trump is eager to smooth out trouble spots with farmers and farm groups that have typically supported the administration, but felt alienated by Secretary Kennedy and his plans to overhaul the nation’s food supply.
Sources: Politico, NAFB News Service
