613. The MAHA Movement for Food As Medicine and the History of the Food Pyramid

How has the U.S. government participated in the politics of food? In RFK Jr.’s position as HHS Secretary the “Make America Healthy Again” movement has recently been formalized as government policy, with the realfood.gov website declaring an end to the “war on protein” and recommending a new food pyramid that emphasizes avoiding processed foods. We will look at the ideology behind these attitudes toward food with a historical lens, putting MAHA in context with past food movements like those motivated by Alexander Graham, Upton Sinclair’s The Jungle, and the panic over fat and cholesterol. We will study how the food pyramid and government intervention in the American diet has changed over time.