Hillsboro’s Sawyer Farms welcomed U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins Tuesday, April 29.
Kennedy and Rollins toured the fourth-generation Sawyer Farms, operated by John and Natasha Sawyer. The farm focuses on producing grains using sustainable practices that conserve the soil while improving productivity.
Fertility management, soil conservation projects, integrated pest management and reduced tillage are all important components of Sawyer Farms’ environmentally sustainable program.
Sawyer Farms grows barley, wheat, rye and corn for use in the distilling, brewing and feed industries.
Earlier in the day, they visited College Station to gain a greater understanding of how Texas A&M is working to advance agriculture as a solution to health. The secretaries toured cutting-edge laboratories at the Texas A&M Norman E. Borlaug Building, received a briefing on the Grand Nutrition Challenge at the Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture and toured the Automated Precision Phenotyping Greenhouse.
“Making America healthy again starts with supporting America’s farmers and ranchers. In Texas, I was joined by Secretary Kennedy to do just that,” said Secretary Rollins. “At USDA, I am negotiating with Mexico to stop the spread of invasive species like the New World Screwworm, and Secretary Kennedy and I are working together to ensure that our kids and families are consuming the healthiest food produced in the USA.”
Secretary Kennedy is leading the Make America Healthy Again Commission, which will research and report the reasons children face diet-related disease like obesity and diabetes and how government can implement change through things it says include revised dietary policy, state innovation and less regulation.
USDA said that the visit to Texas A&M Institute for Advancing Health Through Agriculture included amplifying the HHS and USDA commitment to timely and consumer-facing Dietary Guidelines for Americans.
On March 11, after the inaugural meeting of the Make America Healthy Again Commission, Secretary Rollins and Secretary Kennedy announced a commitment to final dietary guidelines no later than December 31.
Secretary Rollins is encouraging states to reform SNAP and nutrition education services, and USDA has supported major voluntary changes to make food healthier, including applauding the dairy industry for voluntarily removing artificial colors from the National School Lunch Program.
Secretary Kennedy said that it was an honor to join Secretary Rollins in her home state of Texas.
“Together, HHS and USDA are taking on the chronic disease epidemic by fixing our broken food system and giving families the tools they need to eat well, stay healthy and Make America healthy again,” said Kennedy.
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