Beyond the MAHA Report: Why Veganism Is the Only Cure for a Sick Nation

Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Diagnosed the Problem, But Veganism Is the Cure

‘‘Veganism is the only health strategy that includes compassion, climate, and justice.’’

Health Crisis or Wake-Up Call?

On May 22, 2025, the White House released the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) report, an ambitious attempt to address the chronic disease epidemic among American children. With nearly 40 percent of U.S. youth suffering from conditions like obesity, asthma, ADHD, and autoimmune disorders, the need for systemic health reform has never been more urgent. The report, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., rightly diagnoses many of the factors behind America’s health crisis: ultra processed foods, environmental toxins, overmedicalization, sedentary lifestyles, and corporate influence.

Yet despite its good intentions and some meaningful insights, the MAHA report stops short of proposing the most effective, ethical, and transformative solution available: a whole foods, plant based vegan diet. This article offers a comprehensive response from that perspective, a vision grounded in science, justice, and sustainability.

The Report’s Strengths: Where Robert F. Kennedy Jr. Gets It Right

Ultra Processed Food is Killing Us
One of the report’s most critical insights is its emphasis on ultra processed foods, which make up about 70 percent of the American diet. The link between processed food and chronic disease is well established. Diets rich in added sugars, refined oils, artificial additives, and chemical preservatives are fueling rising rates of obesity, diabetes, and behavioral disorders in children. The MAHA report calls for a shift toward more nutrient dense, whole foods, a point on which we wholeheartedly agree.

A whole foods, plant based diet is the purest embodiment of that call. Legumes, whole grains, fruits, vegetables, nuts, and seeds are naturally anti inflammatory, fiber rich, and nutrient dense. They nourish the gut microbiome, stabilize blood sugar, and reduce risks of cardiovascular disease. The MAHA report is right to criticize the Standard American Diet (SAD). What it misses is that whole plant foods are not just better, they are the gold standard.

Environmental Chemical Exposure: A Missed Link in Kennedy’s Findings
The MAHA report raises alarms over glyphosate, atrazine, endocrine disruptors, and heavy metals, all common in modern agriculture and consumer products. While the report stops short of declaring these substances definitively harmful, it rightly calls for rigorous research.

But here again, the most meaningful step forward is missing. Animal agriculture is a primary driver of pesticide use in the United States. Most glyphosate is sprayed on GMO corn and soy fed to livestock, not humans. Factory farms contribute to air and water contamination, manure runoff, and antibiotic resistance. If MAHA wants to reduce children's exposure to environmental toxins, it must confront the environmental toll of raising animals for food.

Corporate Capture of Science and Policy: Kennedy’s Boldest Claim
The report's most refreshing honesty comes in its critique of the corporate takeover of food, chemical, and pharmaceutical policy. It correctly notes that industry funded science often drives public health guidelines and regulatory decisions. It calls for transparency, independent research, and the removal of corporate influence.

This aligns squarely with the vegan movement's long standing critique of the revolving door between government and agribusiness. The USDA subsidizes meat and dairy while pretending to promote health. The pharmaceutical industry profits from managing disease rather than preventing it. As long as corporate profits outweigh public health, progress will be stunted.

Where Kennedy’s MAHA Report Falls Short: Missed Opportunities

Animal Products and Chronic Disease
For all its righteous critique of processed food, MAHA is conspicuously silent on the health risks of animal products. Red and processed meats are classified by the World Health Organization as carcinogens. High intake of saturated fat and cholesterol from meat, dairy, and eggs is a well documented contributor to heart disease, America’s top killer. IGF 1 from dairy is linked to hormonal cancers. Casein, the main protein in milk, has been shown to turn cancer growth on and off like a switch in rodent studies (The China Study).

Kennedy has publicly stated, “We will encourage taxpayer dollars to go toward wholesome foods, such as whole milk, fruits, vegetables and meats.” While this sounds like a step in the right direction, it reveals a fundamental misunderstanding of what “wholesome” truly means in light of current scientific evidence. Whole milk and meat are not neutral foods; they are among the most heavily researched dietary contributors to chronic disease. A truly health-promoting policy must encourage nutrient dense, fiber rich, plant based foods—not those high in cholesterol and saturated fat.

By avoiding discussion of meat and dairy’s health risks, the MAHA report fails to offer a complete nutritional solution. A whole foods, plant based diet does not merely reduce harm, it reverses disease. Dr. Caldwell Esselstyn, Dr. Dean Ornish, and others have shown that heart disease, type 2 diabetes, and early stage prostate cancer can be reversed through plant based eating. MAHA never mentions this.

Vaccine Misdirection and Public Health
The report also undermines its credibility by wading into vaccine skepticism, questioning the CDC’s childhood immunization schedule and calling for placebo controlled trials. While transparency and scientific rigor are essential, this approach risks fueling anti vaccine sentiment at a time when public trust in health institutions is already fragile.

The real crisis isn’t vaccines, it is diet. Obesity, inflammation, and poor gut health weaken immune response. A plant based diet strengthens it. The MAHA Commission should be asking why we aren’t feeding our children immune supportive foods, not sowing doubt about life saving public health measures.

Ethical and Environmental Omissions
Perhaps the most glaring oversight is the report's silence on the ethical, ecological, and spiritual consequences of animal agriculture. Over 10 billion land animals are slaughtered annually in the U.S. alone. The environmental toll includes deforestation, methane emissions, ocean dead zones, and wildlife habitat loss. Yet these issues are absent from MAHA's framework.

Veganism is more than a diet. It is a philosophy of nonviolence, a recognition that our health is intertwined with the health of all beings and the planet itself. The MAHA report aims to heal children but ignores the violence embedded in the food systems that feed them.

What Veganism Adds to the Conversation

A Proactive, Preventive Approach
Unlike reactive medical models, veganism addresses root causes. Whole plant foods prevent and even reverse the chronic diseases MAHA seeks to curb. They are anti inflammatory, alkalizing, and microbiome friendly. They provide antioxidants, phytonutrients, and fiber, all essential for cellular repair and long term wellness.

If MAHA's goal is to create a healthier America, there is no more evidence based path than plant based nutrition. The science is in: this is not a fringe diet. It's a global solution backed by the American College of Lifestyle Medicine, Kaiser Permanente, and Harvard Public Health.

Compassion and Justice as Health Strategies
Health is not just the absence of disease but the presence of compassion. Veganism asks us to consider the ethical cost of our habits. When we feed our children the flesh and secretions of sentient beings, we teach them that dominance and violence are acceptable norms. A truly healthy nation must grow from kindness.

We must also recognize the injustice baked into animal agriculture. Factory farms disproportionately pollute Black, Indigenous, and rural communities. Exploited workers endure brutal conditions in slaughterhouses. Veganism offers a way forward that honors all life, not just human life.

Planetary Health and Climate Resilience
The MAHA report acknowledges environmental toxins but overlooks climate change, which is a direct result of industrial animal farming. Livestock accounts for an estimated 14.5 percent of global greenhouse gas emissions. Meat and dairy production uses vast amounts of land, water, and energy.

A plant based food system is not just healthier, it is necessary for climate survival. Shifting away from animal agriculture reduces emissions, conserves biodiversity, and protects future generations. MAHA cannot be future facing if it ignores the biggest ecological threat of our time.

Policy Recommendations from a Vegan Lens

• End Subsidies for Meat and Dairy: Redirect public funds toward fruits, vegetables, legumes, and whole grains. Stop paying farmers to produce food that makes us sick.

• National Plant Based Health Initiative: Launch educational programs in schools, hospitals, and public media promoting plant based eating. Train medical professionals in nutrition.

• Food Justice Reform: Ensure that whole plant foods are affordable and accessible in all communities, especially those suffering from food apartheid.

• Corporate Accountability: Break up the monopolies in agribusiness and processed food. Ban false health claims and demand transparency in marketing.

• Environmental Protection Laws: Regulate factory farm waste, reduce allowable pesticide use, and incentivize organic plant farming. Make animal agriculture accountable for its climate impact.

Conclusion: Real Health Requires Root Level Change

The Make America Healthy Again report makes some commendable steps in identifying the toxic influences shaping American health. But it stops short of naming the root of the problem: a food system built on violence, exploitation, and addiction to processed and animal based products.

A whole foods, plant based vegan approach offers more than disease mitigation, it offers a way out. It brings together health, compassion, justice, and sustainability into a single, unified vision for a better world. If we truly want to make America healthy again, we must begin with what we put on our plates.

The choice is ours. And it starts with beans, greens, grains, and love.