Few topics have gained as much discussion in agriculture in the second Trump administration as the Make America Healthy Again initiative, which this month sent its report on food and agriculture to the president. MAHA is many things, and for dairy it offers opportunities for policies that better align with what nutrition scientists and families already know — that dairy boosts public health and its consumption should be encouraged. But it could also be a double-edged sword for both farmers and consumers — which is why, as MAHA evolves, dairy needs to be ready to support good ideas and educate both policymakers and consumers in ways that benefit everyone it serves.
First: A little bit of a shakeup isn’t a bad thing. Dairy’s been in several decades-long battles that at this point can’t be explained by anything other than bureaucratic inertia.