Op-ed: What a Second Trump Administration Could Mean for Your Food
First, food prices could increase. A lot. And this time, food inflation will be driven by food policy choices, not by the Covid-19 pandemic. After the role food prices played in the election, some might wonder why Trump would place tariffs on food imports, which could increase food prices if the costs are passed along […]
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None of Trump’s supporters voted for food that costs more and is less safe. Nevertheless, a second Trump administration could be a disaster for eaters, farmers, food and farm workers, and provide a windfall for the largest food and farm interests. Here’s why.
First, food prices could increase. A lot. And this time, food inflation will be driven by food policy choices, not by the Covid-19 pandemic. After the role food prices played in the election, some might wonder why Trump would place tariffs on food imports, which could increase food prices if the costs are passed along to consumers. But that’s not all he might do. The Trump team might also reduce food assistance for poor people, as House Republicans have already proposed.
A Mexican agricultural worker cultivates lettuce on a farm in Holtville, California. (Photo by John Moore, Getty Images)
Deporting food and farm workers, as Trump has pledged, could also increase the cost of producing food (and be devastating for families and rural communities). In combination, tariffs on food and farm products, reducing food assistance, and driving up labor costs could be a food affordability triple whammy for many of the people who just helped put Trump back in office.
“If Trump truly wants to ‘Make America Healthy Again,’ he will ban toxic pesticides and food chemicals, put warning labels on junk food, and require farmers to test for pathogens before they water their crops.”
Second, the people who feed us could lose important workplace protections. The COVID-19 pandemic unmasked the harm food and farm workers face, but that might not stop the Trump team from weakening labor standards. Many of the people who feed us are not only at risk of being deported, they may also have fewer legal protections at work if industry lobbyists are placed in key positions at the Department of Labor and the Department of Agriculture. Even if Trump fails to deliver on promised deportations, food and farm workers will live and work in constant fear—and face increased harassment.
Third, as hard as it is to imagine, our diets could get worse. While Trump and some of his supporters have pledged to “Make America Healthy Again,” the industry lobbyists who will likely run the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and Food and Drug Administration (FDA) could instead weaken school nutrition standards (as Trump tried to do during his first term), reverse plans to require a warning label on junk food, weaken proposed limits on “healthy claims” on food packages, reduce access to local food sources like farmers’ markets, and replace nutrition science with pseudoscience.
Fourth, despite Trump’s pledges to the contrary, our food and tap water could be filled with toxic pesticides and pathogens. The Biden-Harris Environmental Protection Agency banned toxic pesticides, including most uses of chlorpyrifos. The first Trump administration reversed a ban of chlorpyrifos, and a second Trump administration could reverse the ban again—and undo other recent chemical safety progress, including efforts to tackle toxic “forever chemicals.” The next Trump administration could also increase the risk of pathogens by reversing proposals to address salmonella in chicken as a favor to Big Meat.
Fifth, the new Trump team could gut voluntary programs to help farmers get their farms “climate ready” and reduce methane and nitrous oxide emissions. Climate pollution from farming could account for 38 percent of U.S. emissions by 2050—up from 10 percent today. That’s more likely if the incoming administration diverts funding for reducing emissions and instead funds infrastructure projects like irrigation pipelines. The same voluntary practices that reduce emissions can also help farms withstand extreme weather. If funding is cut, farms could become more vulnerable.
That’s not the only way a second Trump term could make things worse for most farmers. Tariffs will be bad for farmers because important overseas markets will be lost. Not only that, efforts to address monopoly control of the things farmers buy—like seeds, chemicals, and equipment—and monopoly control of the places farmers sell their goods will likely grind to a halt. If the past is prologue, the Trump team will raid USDA’s coffers to help disburse billions to the largest, most successful farmers and once again leave smaller farmers, especially farmers of color, with no safety net.
Whether election-year pledges to “Make America Healthy Again” will produce a meaningful change remains to be seen. What’s clear is that no one voted for higher food prices, more hunger, increased diet-related disease, or more toxic pesticides and pathogens in our food–including most Republican voters. Public opinion research shows strong bipartisan support for anti-hunger programs, protecting workers, keeping food safe, and helping farmers address climate change.
Handy Kennedy, founder of AgriUnity cooperative, feeds his cows on HK Farms on April 20, 2021 in Cobbtown, Georgia. (Photo by Michael M. Santiago, Getty Images)
While the election shows we may not agree on everything, everyone agrees that our food should be affordable, safe, and produced in ways that protect our workers and our neighbors. Everyone, that is, except for the industry lobbyists who may soon be running the federal agencies charged with protecting us.
Some of us will be able to choose organic or buy water filters. Others will live in states where state policymakers will continue to step in to protect us. But most of us—especially most of the voters who elected Trump—will be unprotected from higher prices and food and water that can make us sick. Counting on health gurus and other false prophets will be no substitute for the hard work that lays ahead.
If Trump truly wants to “Make America Healthy Again,” he will ban toxic pesticides and food chemicals, put warning labels on junk food, and require farmers to test for pathogens before they water their crops. He will help farmers prepare their farms for extreme weather and avoid becoming a leading source of greenhouse gas emissions. He will not only ensure that people have enough to eat, but also that they have more healthy food choices and fewer foods with misleading health claims. And he will make sure that the people who feed us aren’t living in fear or putting their own health and safety in jeopardy.
The post Op-ed: What a Second Trump Administration Could Mean for Your Food appeared first on Civil Eats.
