Kennedy, Means speak to IFPA; no commitments on incentives

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Calley Means, White House adviser on nutrition, both spoke Wednesday to the International Fresh Produce Association meeting in Washington, but neither committed to government incentives for Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables.

Since taking office in 2025, both Kennedy and Means – leaders of the Make America Healthy Again movement that propelled President Trump to a second term – have focused on restricting what Americans can buy through government programs, but have not focused on incentives to help Americans eat healthier.

IFPA President and CEO Cathy Burns asked Kennedy about incentives for Americans to eat more fruits and vegetables, but he did not respond directly.

Both officials praised the states for requesting waivers from the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program rules so that they can restrict the purchase of soda and candy, and Means said he believes spending will shift from soda and carbohydrates to fruits and vegetables.

Kennedy said that when the Trump administration releases front-of-pack food labeling, it will use red, green and yellow lights and that fruits and vegetables will get a green light.

But Burns told Means that if some foods considered unhealthy are labeled red, “assuming people will run to the fruit and vegetable aisle is not realistic.”

Burns also told Means that IFPA members are “deeply disappointed” that the Trump administration has proposed cutting the fruit and vegetable benefit in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children. Means replied that “in order for these programs to work, we have to make sure they have integrity.”

Means said there is “a question of whether it is appropriate for 50%” of American babies and their mothers to be eligible for WIC “when we are going bankrupt as a country.”

Means also noted that SNAP spending had doubled during the Biden administration and “you have to ask questions about that.”

But Means said, under Trump administration policies, tens of billions of dollars in government procurement will go from ultraprocessed foods to fruits and vegetables.

Both Kennedy and Means noted that Zach Lahn won the Iowa Republican gubernatorial primary with support from the Make America Healthy Again movement, and that Lahn had criticized the use of pesticides such as glyphosate in agriculture.

Iowa has the highest cancer rates in the country, Kennedy said.

Farmers are “partners” in the campaign for healthy eating, Kennedy said, but they need “off-ramps” to adopt regenerative farming practices without huge costs.

The White House supports farmers’ continued use of glyphosate, a weedkiller that some say causes cancer, arguing that banning it would increase food costs. But the House passed an amendment to the farm bill that removed a provision that would have stopped states from labeling pesticides. 

Means described glyphosate as a “complicated issue.”

Means said Trump “deserves credit for creating a big tent” that included bringing Kennedy and his MAHA supporters into his campaign.

Means told the fruit and vegetable executives that he is “genuinely worried if the right does not solve” the issues of healthy eating, the MAHA movement “will go to the left,” resulting in “regulations and command and control you have never imagined.”

The produce industry “should be angry with the health care system” because 48% of all tax dollars go to health care while farmers are suffering, Means said. Spending should be shifted “to farmers from people with knives and prescriptions,” Means said.

The Trump administration would like Congress to “codify” the regulations the administration has put in place so the changes are permanent, Means said.