From empowering families to grow and sell their own food to ditching dyes from foods served in schools, some of the MAHA movement’s principles with few apparent downsides have garnered support on both sides of the aisle.
On Friday, a measure introduced by freshman lawmaker Michele Reneau, R-Hixson, banning artificial dyes in foods served in public schools passed the Senate with bipartisan support. The bill was one of a half dozen Reneau introduced in the House that range from prohibiting food dye to banning fluoride and amending the state constitution to include a “right to food.”
Hamilton County resident Ryn Tompkins, a mother of two, said she supports a ban on artificial dyes in foods in schools, and said her home has been artificial dye-free for five years. Her family also drinks raw milk, she said.
“I’m thankful that the MAHA movement is drawing attention to these things and questioning what we’ve been told,” she said. “It’s the hidden ingredients, it’s the lack of transparency for eggs, soy, corn, coconut, all the things.”
The day before Reneau announced the bills, she met with U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who coined the phrase MAHA — Make America Healthy Again — to describe his health agenda for the country, during a visit to Nashville.