250+ Food & Ag Groups Call for Greater Transparency, Input in MAHA Commission

WASHINGTON, June 17, 2025 – 258 food and agriculture groups representing millions of American farmers, ranchers, producers, and manufacturers sent a letter calling on the Make America Healthy Again Commission to create greater transparency and input in the commission’s activities. The groups raised concerns that the erroneous representations about food and agriculture, as well as the poor evidence used to support those findings, could have been avoided if there had been greater opportunities for stakeholders to participate and provide input to the commission.

“The unintended consequences of making uninformed decisions for U.S. food production based on misinformation or unproven theories would be sweeping for our nation’s farmers,” the groups warned. “It has been discovered many of the studies referenced to support erroneous claims significantly misrepresented their findings or in some cases are entirely nonexistent.”

To prevent future misrepresentations and errors, the groups specifically call for formal inclusion of food and agriculture representatives in the commission’s processes moving forward, as well as the opportunity for public comment on all future reports and activities.

The groups appreciate the administration holding ongoing listening sessions with some food and agriculture groups, which is a step in the right direction. However, it remains unclear how these listening sessions will instruct the commission’s work, or if there will be opportunities for stakeholders to provide additional ideas or evidence to help improve health outcomes for Americans.

The MAHA Commission currently has a report on policy recommendations based on the first report due in mid-August. The groups are hopeful there will be more formal processes for input established prior to the next report’s development and release.

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Organized in 1930, the National Oilseed Processors Association (NOPA) represents the U.S. soybean, canola, flaxseed, safflower seed, and sunflower seed-crushing industries. NOPA’s membership is engaged in the processing of oilseeds for meal and oil that are utilized in the manufacturing of food, feed, renewable fuels, and industrial products. NOPA’s 18 member companies operate 68 softseed and soybean solvent extraction plants across 20 states, crushing over 95% of all soybeans processed in the United States, the equivalent to more than 2 billion bushels annually. More information at www.NOPA.org.

The American Soybean Association (ASA) represents U.S. soybean farmers on domestic and international policy issues important to the soybean industry. ASA has 26 affiliated state associations representing 30 soybean-producing states and nearly 500,000 soybean farmers. More information at soygrowers.com.

The Corn Refiners Association (CRA) is the national trade association representing the corn refining industry of the United States. CRA and its predecessors have served this important segment of American agribusiness since 1913. Corn refiners manufacture sweeteners, starch, advanced bioproducts, corn oil and feed products from corn components such as starch, oil, protein and fiber. More information at www.corn.org.

The National Corn Growers Association, founded in 1957, represents nearly 36,000 dues-paying corn growers in 48 states and the interests of more than 300,000 growers who contribute through corn checkoff programs in their states. NCGA and its state organizations work together to create and increase opportunities for corn growers. For more information, visit ncga.com.

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