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Trendspotting: IFPA addresses MAHA report at annual Washington Conference

By
Craig Levitt

For the second consecutive year, the International Fresh Produce Association’s Washington Conference took place in June (instead of September), bringing together industry leaders, policymakers and advocates to champion and safeguard the future of fresh produce.

One of the key themes throughout the event was the recent MAHA report, and how the industry is not exactly thrilled with much of its content. IFPA CEO Cathy Burns took umbrage — as did many that spoke before and after her — with the report during her keynote address on Tuesday, June 11. She expressed her dismay to the report that, “questioned how our food is produced, and it called it a threat to public health.”

Cathy Burns
Cathy Burns

Burns also talked about other misconceptions in the report about farming and production. “When you think about Make America Healthy Again, anytime health is part of the conversation we should win,” she said.

“Any opportunity for our industry to be at the center point of health is absolutely critical,” she added. “On one hand fruits and vegetables fit hand-to-glove within MAHA’s goals to reduce chronic diseases. Think about it, the MAHA report is pushing whole foods. Hello, we are whole foods so when you're up on the hill today and members of congress or staff are saying ‘yeah we're going to push whole foods,’ you realize whole foods are fruits and vegetables. Be that clear, yes there are other whole foods, but for the purposes of us and our industry, we need to own the narrative.”

During the What Advocacy Means for You – MAHA Edition session Rebeckah Adcock, vice president of U.S. government relations for IFPA, hosted a panel that featured Peter Lurie, president of the Center for Science in the Public Interest; Devin Mogler, president and CEO for the National Oilseed Processors Association; Kip Tom, vice chair of rural policy for America First Policy Institute and  president of CereServ; and Joby Young, executive vice president of the American Farm Bureau Federation.

Each of the panelist had their own take on the MAHA report. 

Young said, “There's a lot of misperception in some of the commentary that came out in the MAHA report, we hope to have an opportunity as we go forward to correct some of the things that we think are misperceptions and get some of these narratives going on the right track and have a more productive conversation.”

Adcock asked Tom how can those involved make a difference and influence the conversation with the current administration. Tom said, “For the past 20, 30 years we have just kept moving along  — our farms, operations — to provide fresh fruits and vegetables to America's consumers. We kept finding ways to improve and growing our businesses, then and all of a sudden MAHA comes along and we're being questioned. I don't mind being questioned. It's good for us to step back and look at our systems and say, ‘are there ways for improvement?’ To make sure we can help in making consumers healthier are we using the right practices and the right tools to produce our food? My answer to that is, for the most part, we are doing everything we can to do the right to make sure that we're using the right tools.”

Adcock said that it was okay for MAHA to question, but felt that those questions have not all been fair, constructive or based in sound science.

Mogler and Lurie were more direct in their displeasure with the MAHA report. “A couple of years ago people just thought about oil as vegetable oil, but then on social media and some podcasts expressed concerns around seed oils. Now when you hear the word seed oils, you automatically think, oh, that's bad. That’s not necessarily true. That's kind of the problem we have with this whole MAHA report process is that it feels like they kind of shot an arrow and painted a bullseye around it later,” said Mogler.

Lurie said Mogler’s painting of the bullseye comment was “pretty accurate,” adding that “there's no real reason to believe that this report was going to have any real scientific meeting. That was a six-month study by federal employees who took on about 27 different ideas and somehow in 100 days as it turns out, they did not reach a single conclusion inconsistent with the ideas that they had going in, not even one. So, it felt like a fait accompli, quite honestly.”

Top photo: Rebeckah Adcock, Peter Lurie, Devin Mogler, Joby Young and Kip Tom.

Craig Levitt

Craig Levitt

About Craig Levitt  |  email

When his dreams of becoming a professional hockey player came crashing down due to lack of talent, Craig Levitt turned to journalism. He graduated from Hofstra University in 1992 and has covered various areas of the retail food trade since 1996. Craig joined The Produce News in 2017 and is now managing editor. In his spare time, Craig still plays men’s league hockey (poorly) and enjoys walking the aisles of his favorite supermarket with his wife and two daughters.

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