Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is staunchly defending President Donald Trump’s executive order emphasizing domestic production of glyphosate while saying the administration is “accelerating the transition to regenerative agriculture.”
In a post on X Sunday night, Kennedy, arguably the leader of the Make America Healthy Again movement, made it clear he’s not a fan of pesticides. However, if they “disappeared overnight, crop yields would fall, food prices would surge, and America would experience a massive loss of farms even beyond what we are witnessing today. The consequences would be disastrous.”
Regenerative agriculture, he said, will expand “farming systems that rebuild soil, increase biodiversity, improve water retention, and reduce reliance on synthetic chemicals, including pre-harvest desiccation,” Kennedy said in his lengthy post.
MAHA supporters had already widely criticized the Feb. 18 executive order, which says “ensuring robust domestic elemental phosphorus mining and United States-based production of glyphosate-based herbicides is central to American economic and national security.” Bayer is the only domestic producer of glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup.
“I can’t envision a bigger middle finger to every MAHA mom than this,” said Ken Cook, president and co-founder of the Environmental Working Group.
In his statement on X, Kennedy said “pesticides and herbicides are toxic by design, engineered to kill living organisms. When we apply them across millions of acres and allow them into our food system, we put Americans at risk.”
A former trial lawyer, Kennedy was on the legal team that won the first verdict against Bayer in federal court in California, helping landscaper DeWayne Johnson initially secure a $289 million jury award. It was ultiumatekly reduced to $20,.4 million.
“Chemical manufacturers have paid tens of billions of dollars to settle cancer claims linked to their products, and many agricultural communities report elevated cancer rates and chronic disease,” Kennedy said. “Unfortunately, our agricultural system depends heavily on these chemicals. The U.S. represents 4% of the world’s population, yet we use roughly 25% of its pesticides.”
Critics of the order said it could backfire on the Trump administration in the midterm elections in November.
“Just as the large MAHA base begins to consider what to do at midterms, the President issues an EO to expand domestic glyphosate production,” said Kelly Ryerson, who posts online as the Glyphosate Girl. “The very same carcinogenic pesticide that MAHA cares about most.”
Zen Honeycutt, founder of Moms Across America, said on X that during the administration’s first year, “Not a single thing has been done by the EPA to reduce our children’s and families exposure to pesticides. In fact, regulations have only gotten worse, loosened and more harmful pesticides have been approved. There is no excuse for this. We love you Bobby, but this administration needs to keep their word. We were promised specifically clean air, clean water, and addressing of the pesticides our foods (sic).”
The International Agency for Research on Cancer has determined that glyphosate is “probably” a human carcinogen, but regulatory bodies worldwide have concluded otherwise, a fact repeatedly emphasized by Bayer.
Kennedy said the administration is “driving the rapid adoption of next-generation technologies, including laser-guided weed control, electrothermal and electrical systems, robotics, precision mechanical cultivation, and biological controls that replace blanket spraying with precision intervention.”
Criticism also focused on the order’s grant of immunity under Section 707 of the Defense Production Act to manufacturers of glyphosate and elemental phosphorus.
However, the Congressional Research Service said in a 2020 report that “the precise scope and applicability of section 707 is unclear for at least two reasons: (1) it is undecided whether and how far it extends beyond contract disputes to tort litigation, and (2) whether an action in dispute results ‘directly or indirectly’ from compliance with a DPA order is fact-specific and must be determined on a case-by-case basis.”
That report examined an EO from Trump’s first term addressing the food supply chain during the COVID pandemic.
In his statement, Kennedy said he is “leading a coordinated effort grounded in gold standard science. I am working with Secretary Rollins and @EPALeeZeldin to expedite a better future where a thriving agricultural system is less dependent on harmful chemicals.”
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