Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Donald Trump’s perturbing pick to be the secretary of health and human services, has long been concerned about the health impacts of corn syrup and seed oils. But if he is confirmed, there would be one big wrinkle in his plan to “fix the food system”: Corn syrup and corn oil are largely produced in Trump country.
One worker in Decatur, Illinois, told The New York Times that eradicating corn syrups and oils could negatively impact the livelihoods of the area’s residents.
“It’d have a huge impact,” said a man named Tyler, who was identified by only his first name. “That shuts down Central Illinois, if [the Archer Daniels Midland wet mill] shuts down”
The potential economic anxieties are weighing on the area’s residents, who strongly lean Republican. But Democrats have expressed nervousness too. A local Democratic state legislator told the Times that she wants the interests of workers in their area to be balanced with health concerns. (Kennedy has rightly warned that consuming too many added sugars can contribute to cardiovascular disease and other illnesses.)
But with Trump’s planned tariffs, which are expected to ratchet up the price of imported goods, an attack on corn syrup could make a bad economic situation worse. For his part, Kennedy advocates trading corn-based sweeteners for those extracted from cane sugars. However, this is more expensive and in direct conflict with Trump’s “Buy American” plans since most of America’s cane sugar is imported.
The Times’ reporting suggested that some area residents, who are now concerned about the impact to their mills, weren’t initially worried about a second Trump presidency because they’ve dealt with threats to corn syrup before. The new proposals from Kennedy, however, look different. Apparently, no others have waged a battle of corn syrups and oils with the same level of enthusiasm as Kennedy.
“We don’t know what it’s like to have a secretary that’s trying to drive the debate,” Rodney M. Weinzierl, the executive director of the Illinois Corn Growers Association, told the Times. “Anything that causes uncertainty, you start paying more attention to it.”
And yet Kennedy’s threat to local economic prosperity hasn’t persuaded the area’s voters to turn against the president-elect. In Macon County, which is anchored in Decatur, nearly 60% of voters went for Trump in November. One resident said he thinks their jobs will be safe because—if nothing else—“Elon [Musk] will figure it out,” referring to the mega-billionaire who is expected to head a toothless advisory commission totally separate from the Department of Health and Human Services.
But is it really possible that Kennedy, if confirmed, will “Make America Healthy Again” without alienating Trump’s rural base of support? After all, Trump, well-known lover of fast food, has not yet directly commented on Kennedy’s crusade against corn syrup and corn oil.
Of course, this could prove to be an instance where a Trump appointee has to water down his proposals in order to appease those who helped his boss get where he is in the first place.
But given that Kennedy is a vaccine skeptic, purveyor of weird conspiracy theories, and proponent of various controversial health stances, it’d be fairly ironic if his halfway-decent plan to target processed foods is the thing that ends up turning some of rural America against Trump.
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