Who is bankrolling the anti-MAHA movement?

Several agricultural agencies came out and criticized President Donald Trump’s highly anticipated MAHA report that was released on Thursday. After thoroughly reviewing the records, Blaze News uncovered who is behind many of these anti-MAHA groups.

The MAHA report’s
findings suggested that exposure to agricultural chemicals like pesticides and insecticides are one of the many root causes that have contributed to chronic diseases and health epidemics afflicting American children. Several studies found that these “crop protection tools” have “raised concerns about possible links between some of these products and adverse health outcomes,” according to the report.

The through line in this thorough report is that pesticides may be harmful, and the industry players may not have been transparent about it.

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For example, one of the most common herbicides, known as glyphosate, has been found to have a number of health effects “ranging from reproductive and developmental disorders as well as cancers, liver inflammation, and metabolic disturbances,” according to the report.

The MAHA report also noted that there are great disparities in research conducted by pesticide manufacturers compared to non-industry research, which may be a result of bias. One of the many analyses cited in the report found that 50% of non-industry research deemed a common pesticide harmful compared to just 18% of industry-funded studies.

The through line in this thorough report is that pesticides may be harmful, and the industry players may not have been transparent about it.

Various agricultural groups categorized the MAHA report, specifically the concerns about pesticides, as “baseless” and a source of “misinformation.” At the same time, many of these groups have been direct beneficiaries of companies and corporations that manufacture or promote the very same chemicals.

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American Farm Bureau Federation President Zippy Duvall
said the MAHA report “sows seeds of doubt and fear” and called the White House’s endorsement of the report “deeply troubling.” Notably, Blaze News found that multiple local chapters of the Farm Bureau have collectively received hundreds of thousands of dollars in grants from Monsanto, a subsidiary of Bayer Global, which manufactures agricultural chemicals and GMO technologies.

Some of this money has been
allocated for various disaster relief programs, while some has gone toward political action committees. For instance, the Oregon Farm Bureau PAC has received over $130,000 from Monsanto from 2007 to 2017, much of which was “raised during an annual golf tournament” hosted by the Oregon Farm Bureau to “raise money for its political activities.”

The American Farm Bureau did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News.

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Similarly, Elizabeth Burns-Thomson, the executive director of Modern Ag Alliance, said the report would be guided by “misinformation” rather than science. Modern Ag Alliance, which was
founded by Bayer Global, represents over 100 agricultural agencies that advocate for “crop protection tools.” Some of the members of the Modern Ag Alliance also include the American Soybean Association, the National Corn Growers Association, and the National Association of Wheat Growers.

The ASA, NCGA, and NAWG, along with the International Fresh Produce Association,
issued a statement saying the MAHA report “baselessly attacks” the American food industry and caters to the “opinions and preferences of social influencers and single-issue activists.”

Since 2010, the ASA, NCGA, and NAWG have all individually received multiple donations totaling over $120,000 from
CropLife, according to publicly available tax filings. CropLife is an organization that calls itself the “national trade association that represents the manufacturers, formulators, and distributors of pesticides.” The IFPA has also been sponsored by Bayer multiple times in recent years.

The ASA, NAWG, and Modern Ag Alliance did not respond to a request for comment from Blaze News. NCGA and IFPA redirected Blaze News back to its original statement on the report.

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