Happy Tuesday, and welcome to Food Fix. I have spent a little too much time thinking about whole milk memes the past few days. I have a strange job sometimes!
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Helena
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Today, in Food Fix:
– Whole milk takes center stage on social media
– MAHA backs Cassidy challenger
– ‘Let them eat broccoli’ tagline takes hold on the left
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Why whole milk is suddenly front and center
Over the past few days, the internet has been in a tizzy over whole milk. Many people wanted to know: Why were top government accounts all of a sudden posting about whole milk non-stop? Why was everyone all of a sudden talking about whole milk?
The simplest explanation, of course, was that President Donald Trump had just signed the Whole Milk for Healthy Kids Act – legislation that was backed by both parties but still took some 15 years to get to the finish line. (Trump himself kept remarking during the bill signing: How could this have taken so long? “Hard to believe… government is tough, government can be very tough,” he said.)
Social frenzy: Both HHS and USDA have been posting about whole milk in recent days, including a series of videos and photos that bring back the old “Got milk?” milk mustache campaign from the 1990s and early 2000s.
The posts use #DrinkWholeMilk as their tagline. One from HHS, which was also shared by USDA and garnered 19 million impressions, features an AI video rendering of HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. dancing in a club with a milk mustache. The White House posted a dramatic video about the whole milk bill signing over the weekend.
“Big win for America’s kids! 🥛 Whole milk is officially BACK in schools – loaded with real nutrients to help them grow strong and thrive,” the White House said. “A real, practical step to Make America Healthy Again.”
Celebration: The flurry of posts sparked plenty of celebration from MAHA advocates who saw it as an indictment of the nutrition establishment. Sure, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans technically kept the same advice on limiting saturated fat – but the overwhelming message being sent by our health agencies now is that whole fat dairy and higher fat cuts of meat are fully out of the nutritional doghouse.
A dark turn: The posts about whole milk also invited confusion and backlash. Theories cropped up across social media about why the Trump administration was pushing whole milk so hard. On TikTok in particular, many popular posts alleged that this was all just a white supremacist dog whistle, in part by digging into some of the history of milk promotion in the U.S.
While it’s true that milk has been a symbol for white supremacists, and many have raised serious equity concerns about the way dairy is promoted in federal nutrition programs, I’ve seen no evidence that this 15-year push to get whole milk back into schools, which was unanimously passed by the House and Senate, is a white supremacist plot. The bill also greatly reduced barriers for plant-based milk options in schools.
Still, this got a lot of people talking. I got a lot of questions about it, too: No, really, why are we hearing about whole milk so much, and all of a sudden?
The Atlantic’s Yasmin Tayag was clearly also getting asked about this. She wrote this week about the newfound obsession with whole milk: “The Trump administration’s endorsement of whole milk may nominally be about public health. But a recent White House post featuring a retro illustration of the president as an old-fashioned milkman, captioned ‘Make Whole Milk Great Again,’ was all about aspiration – and the purified nation, untainted by modernity, that America could someday become.”
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MAHA backs Cassidy challenger
A key MAHA political action group, MAHA PAC, has publicly pledged $1 million to support Republican Rep. Julia Letlow, if she were to challenge GOP Sen. Bill Cassidy for his Senate seat in Louisiana – an early test of MAHA’s influence in the midterm elections.
Letlow announced she will challenge Cassidy Tuesday morning, per Politico.
This is particularly interesting because Cassidy, who is chair of the Senate HELP Committee, was the pivotal vote for Kennedy’s confirmation. Cassidy received a lot of blowback from the public health community for that vote. He’s also gotten a lot of blowback from MAHA every time he’s publicly questioned Kennedy, primarily about the administration’s recent moves to cut the childhood vaccine schedule.
Trump dumped: Trump appears to have completely abandoned Cassidy, and he endorsed Letlow over the weekend. Per NBC: “Cassidy is one of six Senate Republicans to vote to convict Trump in his second impeachment trial in 2021.”
“President Trump is committed to ending the chronic disease epidemic, and Louisianans deserve a Senator who will stand with him in that fight,” wrote Tony Lyons, co-founder of MAHA PAC. “Congresswoman Letlow has proven herself a tireless champion for Louisiana families.”
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‘Let them eat broccoli’ tagline takes hold on the left
Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins’ recent comments about the new dietary guidelines – specifically, her contention that they don’t ask Americans to spend more money on food – continue to spark ridicule from Democrats.
During a recent interview with NewsNation, Rollins said that consumers could get “a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla, and one other thing” for $3.
Not buying it: Many Democratic lawmakers responded by mocking Rollins.
House Agriculture Democrats compared Rollins to Marie Antoinette: “Let them eat a piece of chicken, a piece of broccoli, a corn tortilla and one other thing.”
House Ways and Means Committee Democrats posted an AI-generated image of a sad-looking cafeteria tray featuring a tiny piece of chicken, a lone broccoli and a small corn tortilla, as well as a mystery item, with the caption: “MAHA!”
WSJ fact check: For what it’s worth, Rollins isn’t totally off base with what she said. “Wall Street Journal reporters hit grocery stores in two cities, Boston and New Orleans, to look for a meal as Rollins described at that price. It was doable, but not necessarily very filling,” they concluded.
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What I’m reading
DNC spotlights SNAP for 2026 (Politico). “The Democratic Party is telegraphing that food aid will be a front-line message ahead of this year’s midterm elections, dovetailing with affordability, the job market and the health of local economies,” writes Rachel Shin. “A new Democratic National Committee report released today, shared first with POLITICO, estimated that over 22 million households will lose SNAP benefits under the GOP’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act.”
The new food-stamp rules will make your head spin (The Atlantic). “Indiana is one of five states – along with Iowa, Nebraska, Utah and West Virginia – that has begun banning the purchase of certain unhealthy treats with food stamps,” writes Nicholas Florko. “In the two weeks since the first bans went into effect, the results have been messy. My trip to Indiana and conversations with officials in other states have suggested that the policies are disorienting, and the implementation has been inconsistent. … Protein bars can still be purchased with food stamps, even if they have the same amount of sugar as a chocolate candy bar; chocolate-covered nuts, however, cannot. Sugary, canned coffee is also okay, so long as it has milk. Iowans can use their EBT cards to buy a slice of cake – but not a fruit cup that comes with a spoon. What all of this shows is that banning junk food is more complicated than it seems.”
ICE crackdown is impacting Minnesota’s farms and food system, officials say (Civil Eats). “The Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) operation that has roiled Minneapolis and led to the shooting death of Renee Good is also impacting farms and food businesses across Minnesota, according to legislators, government officials and farmers,” Lisa Held reports. “Minnesota Farmers Union president Gary Wertish, a grain and livestock farmer, said that the union’s members ‘are increasingly concerned about ICE’s operations in greater Minnesota.’ Restaurant closures due to safety concerns are impacting the farms that supply them, he said. Arrests and ensuing protests have taken place at Target, a major grocer, and a local news outlet reported that on Tuesday, agents arrested a worker at a turkey-processing plant during a shift change.”
Opinion: ‘Big beautiful bill’ cruelly cuts SNAP, puts cost on states (Citizen Times). “On July 4th of last year, President Trump signed into law the so-called ‘One Big Beautiful Bill Act.’ Like any new law designed more for blunt political impact than laser-sharp economic efficiency or social equity, OBBBA mightily benefits some of us while cruelly punishing others. Case in point – the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or ‘SNAP’ (f/k/a food stamps),” writes Ray Russolillo. “Beginning Oct. 1, OBBBA increases the state share of administrative costs from 50% to 75%, which is difficult enough, but the big nut falls on Oct. 1, 2027 when a new performance-based benefits matching formula takes effect. According to the Georgetown Law Center on Poverty and Inequality, implementation of these provisions will cause total SNAP program costs to rise sharply in all states, with increases ranging from a low of 50% to a whopping 768%. These increases will put the states between that proverbial rock and hard place, potentially forcing them to choose between raising taxes or slashing programs.”
Oregon baby is still battling infant botulism after ByHeart formula exposure (ABC News). “A Portland, Ore., boy is struggling to recover from infant botulism after drinking contaminated ByHeart baby formula donated through a program that aims to help poor and homeless families. Ashaan Carter, now 10 months old, was hospitalized twice and remains on a feeding tube after contracting the dangerous infection that has sickened more than 50 babies across the U.S. His mother, Angel Carter, said she received a can of ByHeart formula from a case worker with the Oregon Department of Human Services in early November, days before a nationwide recall of the product,” reports Jonel Aleccia. “State officials wouldn’t comment on Carter’s case, but they acknowledged that the agency received ByHeart formula from PDX Diaper Bank. That was one of nearly two dozen nonprofit groups nationwide who are part of ByHeart’s ‘OpenHearted Initiative’ that donated formula to ‘families in need,’ according to the company’s website. Since June 2022, nearly 24,000 cans of formula have been distributed to groups that aid homeless and other vulnerable families, the company said.”
Senate Republicans detail farm aid package components (Roll Call). “Key GOP senators released more details Friday on a farm aid package they’re pushing to be included in upcoming government funding legislation. Senate Agriculture Chairman John Boozman, R-Ark., and Senate Agriculture Appropriations Subcommittee Chairman John Hoeven, R-N.D., in a statement listed key components they are seeking. They include additional bridge payments intended to tide farmers over until commodity supports in last summer’s budget reconciliation law take effect, assistance to specialty crop farmers and a boost to farm loan limits,” reports Olivia M. Bridges. “The proposal would also provide support for specialty crop farmers, assistance for sugar beet and cane growers and increase farm ownership and operating loan limits.”
New World screwworm detections rise in Mexico, raising fresh concerns for the U.S. cattle industry (Brownfield). “Mexico has confirmed eight new cases of New World screwworm in Tamaulipas, which borders Texas. Josh Maples, an ag economist with Mississippi State University Extension, says continued detections create additional questions in the cattle industry. ‘If and when the border is going to reopen, I think that’s really uncertain,’ he says,” Meghan Grebner reports. “The Texas Department of Agriculture says it has not received confirmation that the affected animals have a history of movement outside of Tamaulipas, which Ag Commissioner Sid Miller says raises concerns that there is now an established screwworm fly population. The U.S. border has been closed to imports of live cattle from Mexico for a better part of the year.”
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