Mollie Engelhart manages a 200-acre farm and cattle ranch in Bandera, Texas, where she produces organic goods, sells raw milk, and writes a daily column focused on regenerative agriculture. Although she identifies with the Make America Healthy Again movement, she prefers the term “MAHA-aligned” over being labeled a MAHA mom.
In May, Engelhart hosted a two-day MAHA farming retreat at her ranch, attended by several hundred politicians, activists, and leaders aligned with the MAHA movement. Among the attendees was Robert F. Kennedy Jr., the Secretary of Health and Human Services. Engelhart’s brother, Ryland, is also recognized as a prominent figure within this movement.
Engelhart’s primary concern with the MAHA label is its politicization, which she describes as a “blue team or red team” issue. Like many MAHA-aligned individuals, she supported President Donald Trump in the last election, influenced by RFK Jr.’s endorsement and their shared commitment to reform America’s chemical-heavy food system. However, her confidence in Trump’s ability to fulfill this promise has diminished over the last year and a half.
“I think that one hundred percent the MAHA movement is very disappointed and disenchanted, and I am not the only one,” Engelhart expressed. “MAHA voters are homeless.”
The dissatisfaction among MAHA supporters is largely due to the Trump administration’s backing of Bayer, the manufacturer of Roundup. Bayer recently won a Supreme Court case regarding the alleged cancer risks of its weedkiller, with the administration encouraging the court to hear the case. Subsequently, in February, Trump signed an executive order positioning glyphosate-based herbicides like Roundup as vital to national security and called for increased domestic production. In March, EPA officials met with Bayer’s CEO to discuss litigation issues, and the administration later sent a lawyer to advocate for the company in a Supreme Court hearing.
Numerous plaintiffs have sued Bayer, claiming Roundup’s active ingredient causes cancer and other health problems, and that the company neglected to include adequate warnings on its labels. The Supreme Court’s decision now limits states from requiring additional label information beyond federal law, restricting legal recourse against Bayer.
Shortly after the ruling, Trump signed an executive order promoting regenerative agriculture and farm resilience. Regenerative agriculture aims to enhance soil health and carbon capture, but lacks a federal definition, leading to varied interpretations and potential greenwashing. The conflicting actions have drawn fresh criticism from MAHA voters. Engelhart remarked, “It does seem a little schizophrenic,” noting that voters can no longer be single-issue voters and need to consider broader perspectives.
Polling data highlights the complexity of the situation. Last October, approximately 74 percent of MAHA supporters identified as Republicans, with 59 percent aligning with the Make America Great Again base. However, a POLITICO poll from this spring showed 47 percent of MAHA respondents who voted for Trump feel the administration hasn’t done enough to “Make America Healthy Again.” Additionally, a Kaiser Family Foundation poll revealed that 28 percent of MAHA voters disapprove of the administration’s handling of food and vaccine policy, potentially affecting midterm election turnout. Reducing pesticide use remains a pivotal cause, supported by 94 percent of MAHA adherents.
Jonathan Lundgren, a farmer from South Dakota, was present at the White House when the Supreme Court ruling was announced. Prior to this, he had been invited to a Rose Garden dinner honoring farmers and had joined Trump in the Oval Office for the signing of the regenerative agriculture executive order. Lundgren operates a 50-acre regenerative farm in Estelline, South Dakota, raising bees, sheep, poultry, and growing flowers and apples. Although he avoids the political label of MAHA, he aligns with the movement’s goals of promoting regenerative agriculture and reducing pesticide use.
“They needed some farmer faces to kind of give the whole thing a spin,” Lundgren noted. He regarded the executive order as “meaningful,” though acknowledged that it lacked new funding or regulations.
Experts argue that the order doesn’t offer significant change. “It may sound great, but fundamentally, there’s nothing really new or substantive or meaningful in the EO that I can see that actually changes the equation for how the administration treats regenerative agriculture,” commented Mike Lavender, policy director at the National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition.
During the Oval Office meeting, Lundgren observed as Kennedy’s team tried to mitigate the MAHA backlash resulting from the Supreme Court decision with the executive order, leading to a heated exchange between a Department of Health and Human Services official and a leading farming lobbyist concerned about potential safety implications for the U.S. food supply. Lundgren stopped using Roundup eight years ago after agrochemicals created more issues than they resolved on his farm. However, he’s still affected by neighboring farms that use it, witnessing his bees die and orchard leaves curl from herbicide drift. Additionally, there’s the human impact.
“We’re sick this time of year, and it’s a direct result of all of these pesticides being applied. My family is sick. That ain’t right,” Lundgren conveyed to Grist. His daughter suffers from asthma and allergies, while his farm staff frequently experiences headaches and fatigue. “It’s so intense that we call it in my community ‘The Spray Flu.’”
The administration’s dual actions, coupled with the EPA’s recent approval of more pesticides containing PFAS, described as “forever chemicals,” have influenced Lundgren’s voting plans for the midterms.
“We’re in a weird state right now that has never really happened before, where food safety and the health of our children is weighing very heavily on American politics,” Lundgren stated. “This is far broader than the farming community. I think that this is consumers; I think this is parents; I think this is society at-large.”
Some argue that despite the administration’s recent messaging on regenerative agriculture, Trump’s history of anti-climate and pro-chemical policies has hindered efforts to clean up the food system rather than helped.
Kelly Ryerson, a prominent MAHA mom and co-founder of American Regeneration, concurs that the ruling and the executive order highlight a disconnect. “It’s inconsistent, to say the least,” Ryerson remarked. “If Trump is going to be doing things like the Supreme Court situation, it’s certainly not what anyone voted for…it’ll be really hard to come back from this now.”
For Ryerson, who is a registered independent and voted for Trump, these actions have changed her approach to the midterms. “I don’t care if they’re a Republican or Democrat, I’m going to support the candidate that wants to decrease toxic exposures,” she asserted.
