Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-FL) waded into a trendy debate on X when she posted, “STOP POISONING OUR FOOD. We must BAN seed oils, high-fructose corn syrup, and other highly processed additives. MAKE AMERICA HEALTHY AGAIN!”
The “MAHA” movement, popularized by the nominee for Department of Health and Human Services secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his odd, politically expedient alliance with President-elect Donald Trump, has brought a variety of interesting conversations to the forefront of American politics. The excessive inclusion of seed oils and other unhealthy food products in the American diet is certainly a net-negative, but calls for further involvement by the federal government are, for several reasons, wrongheaded and counterproductive.
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For starters, it is baffling that any purported conservative or right-winger would trust a government, fresh off of classics such as “mask the babies,” “send COVID-19-infected seniors back to nursing homes,” “vaccinate or lose your job,” and “men can become women,” to decide what Americans can and cannot eat. At every turn, government involvement makes the initial problem worse.
Government involvement in healthcare has worked so well that Democrats are cheering on the cold-blooded murder of insurance company CEOs. Efforts by the Federal Reserve to mitigate the effects of reckless government spending tend to backfire. How did our government’s brilliant plan to ban terrorism in Afghanistan, Iraq, Syria, Libya, Somalia, and Yemen work out?
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One-half of the incoming Trump administration’s DOGE initiative, Vivek Ramaswamy, got it right when he posed the question, “Do conservatives want a right-wing nanny state or should we shut it down?” Obviously, if history is any indication, efforts by the Right to co-opt corrupt government bureaucracies are a fool’s errand, and Republicans would be wise to listen to Ramaswamy and other voices within the movement who are more skeptical of government intervention.
If Luna and others are serious about making America healthy again, a great place to start would be to end the subsidization of corn and oilseeds. Taxpayers subsidize farmers to the tune of $30 billion per year, and most subsidies go to producers of corn, wheat, rice, soybeans, and cotton, not to producers of livestock, fruits, and vegetables. Around one-third of American farms receive subsidies, often excluding small family farms. This influences large farms to avoid planting crops that are not subsidized. If these handouts were eliminated, it would level the playing field for farmers and take away the incentive to plant unhealthy crops. Why is high fructose corn syrup in everything? Look no further than the incentive structure put in place by big government.
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Luna and other Republicans calling for bans by the federal government harken back to Tipper Gore whining about “gangsta rap” in the 1990s, and it is somehow even more embarrassing coming from a member of the modern Right. The 2024 presidential election marked a turning point in the favorability of both major parties with young voters. Republicans and Trump enjoy a +5 favorability rating with Americans aged 18-34, while the Democrats have slipped all the way to -17.
I suspect this shift is due in large part to the fact that Democrats have become the party of whining, nagging, and shaming everyone and everything that offends their delicate sensibilities. It would be political malpractice for Republicans to follow the Left down its self-destructive path and burn through their newfound goodwill by nagging young voters about sunflower oil and yellow 5.
Brady Leonard (@bradyleonard) is a musician, political strategist, and host of The No Gimmicks Podcast.