In First Joint MAHA Event, HHS Secretary Kennedy and USDA Secretary Rollins Outline Vision for Healthier America

On Thursday, for the first time since Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Brooke L. Rollins were confirmed as secretaries of the Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Agriculture, respectively, the two leaders went on the road together, promoting their shared vision on how they plan to make America healthy again.

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They visited Ferdinand T. Day Elementary School in Alexandria, Virginia, which has what Kennedy called an

innovative nutrition program. Taking to X late Friday, Kennedy said, “Wholesome meals play a critical role in boosting students’ academic performance and supporting their overall health.”

The partnership between HHS and USDA is a first for MAHA and emblematic of the unity Rollins and Kennedy are generating within the government.

At the Virginia Elementary school, Kennedy and Rollins had healthy snacks with students and met facility staff.

“Secretary Kennedy and I have a unique once in a generation opportunity to better align our vision on nutrition related programs to ensure we are working together to advance President Trump’s vision to make our kids, our families, and our communities healthy again,” Secretary Rollins said in a press release issued by the USDA. “Our farmers, ranchers, and producers dedicate their lives to growing the safest, most abundant food supply in the world and we need to make sure our kids and families are consuming the healthiest food we produce. There is a chronic health problem in our country, and American agriculture is at the core of the solution.”

Added Kennedy, “Secretary Rollins and I are committed to working together to fulfill President Trump’s mandate to Make America Healthy Again. Thanks to leaders like Virginia Governor Youngkin, the MAHA agenda is gaining momentum. I urge every governor to champion legislation that bans ultra-processed foods and dyes in public schools, and submit a waiver to the USDA to remove soda from SNAP. Secretary Rollins and I look forward to celebrating these achievements with Governors at the White House this summer.”

Noting how America’s children “face unbelievable rates of diet-related disease like obesity and diabetes,” Secretaries Rollins and Kennedy emphasized that the MAHA agenda represents a path to healthier futures.

The USDA press release referenced President Trump’s MAHA Commission, led by Secretary Kennedy, and stated how the government can “implement change through things like revised dietary policy, state innovation, and less regulation.”