Sam Kass, a former adviser to President Obama, said RFK Jr.’s policies linking food and chronic disease resonate with a wide range of Americans.
Exclusive: Former Obama Senior Nutrition Advisor Sam Kass, RFK Jr.
USA TODAY sat down with Sam Kass, former senior nutrition advisor to President Obama, for an exclusive interview.
NEW YORK – Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has changed the way Americans talk and think about food policy and nutrition since joining President Donald Trump’s Cabinet. And that’s a good thing in a country where 129 million people face at least one serious chronic disease, many at increased risk of premature death from poor eating habits, said the senior policy adviser to President Obama and former First Family personal chef.
“Democrats have dropped the ball on this,” Sam Kass told USA TODAY in an exclusive sit-down interview, acknowledging that despite all the efforts the Obamas made on this issue during their two terms, Kennedy has still been “very effective” in connecting with the public with the MAHA movement.
“These are issues that everyone is grappling with,” added Kass, a 45-year-old New Yorker. “These are issues that have to do with how we raise our children. They are actually, by definition, kitchen issues.”
Cas would know. He was the former executive director of former first lady Michelle Obama’s signature health and nutrition initiative, Let’s Move, when her husband was in the White House more than a decade ago.
In 2010, Michelle Obama announced an initiative aimed at ending childhood obesity within a generation by promoting healthier school lunches, better food labeling, and increased physical activity. The Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010, which her husband signed, changed the nutrition standards for the National School Lunch Program, requiring schools to offer more fruits, vegetables and whole grains and limit sugary drinks.
At the time, conservative backlash rapidly surged.
“Thanks to the Obama administration’s efforts to rein in the junk food industry, America is becoming a nanny state,” Fox News host Sean Hannity declared in 2010.
Rep. Tim Huelskamp (R-Kansas) proposed that then-U.S. Department of Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack “impose his ‘Nutrition Nanny’ standards on cafeteria menus in USDA buildings before USDA takes control of cafeteria menus in 100,000 school districts.”
Still, a 2010 law and a subsequent 2013 USDA rule phased out carbonated beverages, high-calorie sports drinks, and sugary snacks, replacing them with water, low-fat milk, and 100% fruit and vegetable juices.
“I think first lady Michelle Obama should have shown the nation and the Democratic Party how much energy and support there is for these issues,” Kass said. “The fact that the party took up these issues and didn’t have a solid policy platform for them was a big mistake.”
What is RFK Jr.’s “true leadership”?
USA TODAY’s wide-ranging interview with Kass included topics such as Democrats’ failure to own health and nutrition issues. MAHA movement. His criticism of the new nutrition guidelines released by President Kennedy and the Trump administration.
Kass, now a partner at Acre Venture Partners, a food-focused venture capital fund based in New York City, said President Kennedy’s focus on food policy filled a void.
“People in the food industry care about these issues, but for a long time they felt like there was no leading voice on this issue,” he said. “And I empathize with that. I share that frustration and I know people’s hunger for real leadership.”
His own friends in the food industry have not only supported the MAGA movement, but have also been “quietly supportive” of the Trump administration, which has pushed the conversation about food and health to the forefront.
Del Bigtree, CEO of MAHA Alliance Super PAC and CEO of MAHA Action, a nonprofit that tracks legislation across the country, told USA TODAY last year that politicians are paying attention because they see MAHA moms as a “powerful voting bloc.”
“Mothers are the most vocal voting group,” he says.
It’s a concept even President Trump is talking about. The term-limited president said at a Jan. 29 Cabinet meeting that he had read an article suggesting Kennedy could help Republicans in the 2026 midterm elections.
“So we have to be very careful to make sure that Bobby likes us,” Trump said.
Kass, a staunch Democrat, said he is concerned that what is happening “behind the scenes” is that MAHA is providing legitimacy to an administration that “tramples on the Constitution.”
“This is truly regime laundering,” Kass said.. “And the problem is that suburban moms and people who aren’t really paying attention but are really concerned about what they’re feeding their kids think, ‘I love what these guys are doing.'”
“Thanks to MAHA, people can be okay about some things and turn a blind eye to others,” he added.
MAHA Republican Party
Unlike their reaction to Michelle Obama’s efforts, Republicans now appear to be fully on board with Kennedy’s priorities. Look at the MAHA-aligned laws that are spreading across the country.
Within months of RFK Jr. becoming the nation’s top health official, West Virginia removed soda from its food stamp program and banned chemical dyes, Utah removed fluoride from water, and Arizona banned ultra-processed foods in public school cafeterias.
By year’s end, 18 states had approved SNAP waivers that prohibit the use of benefits for certain processed foods and beverages. To RFK Jr.’s credit, nearly every state is a red state.
“It’s a little outlandish to see a Republican support on this issue, given the staunch opposition we’ve seen at every turn,” Kass said. “Everywhere we went, from cable news to The Hill, there was fierce resistance.”
So is this progress?
Kass said he remains skeptical that Republican support on the issue will continue after the Trump administration leaves office.
Still, “simply acknowledging that our food causes many of our health problems and that we should do something about it is a great opportunity.”,” he says.
Seeing food coloring banned by a Republican administration was a surreal experience for some food activists, such as Bani Hari, who has advocated for transparency in food labeling and the removal of harmful chemicals from processed foods.
Hari protested the Obama administration’s USDA policy on GMO labeling at the 2012 Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, where she was a delegate when President Barack Obama was running for re-election.
It was another decade before the USDA required mandatory disclosure of bioengineered foods in the United States.
Within months of RFK Jr.’s appointment, nearly 40% of the consumer packaging products industry committed to eliminating colorants and began eliminating artificial food colors.
“At first I thought I was living in a twilight zone. Advocacy on these issues was completely turned upside down,” said Hari, who left the Democratic Party last year and registered as an independent. “There’s still a lot of work to be done when it comes to pesticide regulation, but when it comes to cultural change, we’re light years ahead of where we previously thought.”
But it’s not just activists. Public opinion polls show that MAHA’s policies on food regulation and animal testing restrictions enjoy broad bipartisan support from the American public.
In April 2023, Kennedy challenged then-President Joe Biden in the long-running Democratic primary. Six months later, he ran for the White House as an independent, but ultimately abandoned his campaign to support Republican candidate Trump.
“To RFK’s credit, I think he saw the opportunity and built a real movement,” said MAHA’s Kass.
Mr. Kass also marveled at Mr. Kennedy’s relationship with the president.
“He’s getting a lot of airtime and he’s getting the president on his show, which is great,” he said. “So in that regard, you can point your finger and say something is going on.”
But Kass said many of the policies being proposed by Republicans and enacted by the current administration are directly contrary to what it means to make the population healthier.
President Kennedy’s policies to slash funding for vaccines and HHS have been harshly criticized by scientists and lawmakers from both parties. In March, the Health Secretary announced a major restructuring that would see departments consolidated, 20,000 full-time jobs cut, and research funding slashed.
President Kennedy also fired all 17 members of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Vaccine Expert Committee, filling many of the positions with vaccine skeptics and people who had questioned the idea of mandating COVID-19 vaccines.
“Even if they accomplished everything I considered important in my life’s work, it would be a drop in the bucket compared to the damage being done to our country,” Kass said.
Last month, HHS revised its childhood immunization schedule, reducing the number of diseases for which children are vaccinated from 17 to 11.
Kass squared off with Kennedy on the issue, calling it “one of the greatest threats to public health” the country has ever faced.
“He is fundamentally unfit for this job,” Kass said of Kennedy, adding that this is evidenced by the process by which the secretary “assembles people who share his ideology on an advisory board” rather than qualified experts, and then makes “decisions that affect the life and death choices of the American people.”
‘There’s no protein problem’ in the US: Dietary guidelines
Last month, Secretary Kennedy and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins announced new dietary guidelines that prioritize protein, full-fat dairy products, and whole foods while significantly cutting back on highly processed foods.
“My message is clear: Eat real food,” President Kennedy said at a White House briefing on January 7.
Some describe it as an upside-down food pyramid from the early 1990s, which encouraged grain consumption while limiting fats and oils.
Under the Obama administration, the pyramid was changed in 2011 to “My Plate,” which prioritizes vegetables, fruits, and grains over protein.
Protein plays a central role in Kennedy’s food pyramid. Meat and dairy products, including red meat, are recommended.
“Protein and healthy fats are essential but were incorrectly discouraged in previous dietary guidelines,” Kennedy said. “We are ending the war on saturated fat.”
Kass said he agrees with the idea of eating “real food.” But are you looking for more protein and saturated fat? That’s another matter.
“We don’t have a protein problem in the United States. We eat too much protein,” Kass says. “It’s not even close.”
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, adults in the United States consume, on average, more protein than the recommended amount.
Protein is an important part of the diet, but experts say people who eat high-protein diets have a higher risk of kidney stones. A report from Harvard Medical School found that a high-protein diet that includes lots of red meat and saturated fat may also be linked to an increased risk of heart disease and colon cancer.
Kass said the reason for the recommendation was not surprising given that most of the advisers on the new dietary guidelines committee had financial ties to the meat and dairy industries. At least seven of the nine scientific review authors maintained strong ties to the food industry, according to the nonprofit Physicians Committee for Responsible Care.
The authors declared that they had received research funding or other compensation from organizations such as the National Cattlemen’s Beef Association, the Texas Beef Council, General Mills, the National Dairy Council, and the National Pork Board.
Beyond the Trump era, Kass said there is still a glimmer of hope in President Kennedy’s renewed focus on food policy. The former President Obama’s chef said he is “skeptical but hopeful” that bipartisanship will surround Americans and their healthy eating habits.
Swapna Venugopal Ramaswamy is USA TODAY’s White House correspondent. You can follow her at X @SwapnaVenugopal.
