By Jessica DiNapoli, Leah Douglas and Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON (Reuters) -The White House will not impose new guardrails on the farm industry’s use of pesticides as part of a strategy to address children’s health outcomes, according to a draft obtained by Reuters of a widely anticipated report from President Donald Trump’s “Make America Healthy Again” commission.
The draft document recommends that the administration promote healthier diets and examine vaccines and prescription drugs but stops short of advising any change to how the U.S. approves or regulates agrochemicals.
The Department of Health and Human Services, whose head, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., chairs the commission, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Trump administration has worked to balance the demands of the MAHA movement aligned with Kennedy, a vaccine skeptic and former environmental lawyer, with the concerns of farmers and ranchers, a key Trump constituency.
A previous report from the MAHA commission issued in May pointed to pesticides, along with processed food and over-prescription of medications and vaccines, for increasing rates of childhood obesity, diabetes and other illnesses.
More than 250 groups representing farmers, ranchers, and agrochemical companies urged the Trump administration in June to seek their input on future MAHA Commission activities. The White House this summer held a series of meetings with food and farm groups to discuss the work of the commission.
The draft report says that the Environmental Protection Agency will work to inform the public of its pesticide review process and collaborate with the U.S. Department of Agriculture to promote precision application of pesticides, which can reduce their overall use.
The EPA will consider exclusions from pollution laws for some farms and meat processing operations, the report says.
The report includes some existing priorities of the administration, like that HHS will investigate injuries from vaccines and prescription of antidepressants.
HHS and the Federal Trade Commission will explore guidelines to limit direct marketing of unhealthy foods to children and the administration will work to improve food quality in hospitals and prisons, the report says.
Along with Kennedy, the commission includes Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins, EPA Administrator Lee Zeldin and other officials and cabinet members.
(Reporting by Leah Douglas and Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington and Jessica DiNapoli in New York; Editing by Caroline Humer and Daniel Wallis)
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