The MAHA food policy advisor, a driving force behind the Trump administration’s nutrition efforts, resigned from the administration days ahead of midterm elections.

Calley Means speaks during a news conference at the Health and Human Services Department on April 22, 2025 in Washington, DC. (Photo credit: Andrew Harnik, Getty Images)By Rebekah Alvey • October 22, 2026Calley Means, a driving force behind the Trump administration’s nutrition efforts, resigned from the administration days ahead of midterm elections.Read the full article →

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  • Maeve@kbin.earth
    1·
    1 hour ago

    https://www.politico.com/news/2026/10/22/calley-means-top-maha-ally-resigns-from-trump-administration-01132073 is a better article, and all I can say is, “What a mixed bag.” 🥴

    “I leave with tremendous respect for President Trump and RFK — two historic figures who are committed to confronting a corrupt DC bureaucracy that is doing everything possible to protect the status quo,” Means said. “The past two years have seen historic policy and cultural change to confront the chronic disease crisis and healthcare incentives that profit from us being sick. This movement is in the first inning and just getting started.”

    The White House did not immediately return a request for comment.

    Means’ departure comes amid his growing frustration with what he saw as a lack of progress on MAHA priorities, according to two administration officials, both granted anonymity to describe his thinking. The breaking point came this week. Means had been scheduled to meet with Kennedy and White House officials to discuss defining ultraprocessed foods, a MAHA priority. That meeting, first reported on by POLITICO, was postponed.

    MAHA has prioritized establishing a definition for ultraprocessed foods because they hope it will set the stage for eventual regulation of sweeteners and additives in the American diet.

    “That was the straw that broke the camel’s back,” said one of the two administration officials. “Calley’s been pushing very, very hard for this, but it’s been a very opaque process and has been just continuously stonewalled.”

    Means, a wellness entrepreneur, worked on Kennedy’s 2024 presidential campaign and the secretary credits him with helping pave the way for Kennedy’s eventual endorsement of Trump. The unlikely alliance brought thousands of MAHA voters into President Donald Trump’s coalition and secured Kennedy a spot in the Cabinet.

    Means, who initially served as a White House adviser and later became a senior HHS adviser, was heavily involved in early Trump administration wins on food policy, including revamping the dietary guidelines, getting a smattering of big candy and food companies to voluntarily remove artificial dyes from their products and restricting unhealthy drinks from food stamp coverage in 17 states. He also worked on an executive order, signed by Trump in April, that directed federal agencies to boost research efforts into psychedelic medicine and on efforts to increase nutrition courses taught in medical schools…