As the agriculture commissioner of one of the biggest farming and ranching states in the country, I am excited that Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has joined the Trump campaign and is adding his important voice. I have long advocated for policies that help make Americans healthier. With President Trump in the White House, I know that we can accomplish these critical goals.

When I was a kid, President John F. Kennedy inspired me with his call to make physical fitness and healthy habits a national priority. I wasn’t the only one. The nation responded. 

The Presidential Fitness Challenge was a big deal, and we should bring it back. We have had no national leadership on this fundamental aspect of human well-being until now, as President Kennedy’s nephew takes up his mantle.

But make no mistake, we are in a chronic disease crisis and our kids are suffering. Today, more than two in five adults are obese, as well as more than one in five kids. This is not normal. It didn’t “just happen.” It is the result of decades of bad public policy that, among other things, corrupted our food.

OBESITY MAKES PEOPLE MORE LIKELY TO CATCH COVID, STUDY SUGGESTS: ‘INDISPUTABLE RELATIONSHIP’

Somewhere along the line, the cost and volume of food became more important than the quality. Cheap fillers, fake sweeteners and every variety of ultra-processed foods became the norm. Sadly, America’s declining health reflects this trend. 

Common sense tells us that only whole, natural food can feed, repair and nurture our bodies at the cellular level. Ultra processed and artificial foods can only inhibit and destroy. 

Humans evolved eating whole, natural foods for millions of years. You can’t simply undo that deep biology in a couple of generations without seeing the harm it has caused.

But we can turn this around. One easy and necessary policy change is to update Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits, so they pay for whole, healthy food and not ultra processed junk.

SUPERBUGS DUE TO ANTIBIOTIC RESISTANCE COULD KILL 39 MILLION PEOPLE BY 2050, LARGE STUDY FINDS

Many of my colleagues in state food leadership roles are ready – and eager – to do far more.

In Texas, I am responsible for over 5 million school meals every single day. With our Farm Fresh program, our kids get real, healthy and locally-sourced foods prepared fresh with no dyes, additives, preservatives or added salt. They are never flash frozen and often organic. For many students, it is the only nutritious meal they get each day. 

Expanding this program nationwide would not only result in healthier kids learning better nutritional habits, but it will also give our farmers and ranchers new local markets where transport costs are low, and the benefits are shared by all.

Along those lines, we also have the opportunity to initiate a surplus crop program to incentivize farmers to donate their excess crops to local food banks.

CLIMATE CHANGE PROPOSALS PUTTING AMERICAN FOOD SUPPLY AT RISK, SAYS DAIRY FARMER

With regenerative farming practices like no till planting and intensive grazing, our farmers are innovating to deliver more food to market with fewer chemicals and less disruption to ecosystems. This is how we make our soil healthy again. 

In Texas, we have a program to allow farms, ranches and other pesticide/herbicide users to contact the Department of Agriculture and have expired and unused chemicals properly and safely destroyed, rather than ending up in our soil and groundwater.

Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS), also known as “forever chemicals,” are a threat to public health with consequences that often don’t manifest for many years. Everything we can do to get PFAS out of our environment, the healthier we will be.

FARMERS ‘BRUTALIZED’ AS COSTS ‘GO THROUGH THE ROOF’ IN LAST DAYS OF BIDEN’S AMERICA

The role of Big Food, much like Big Pharma, is to prioritize their profits over our health. I enthusiastically support RKF Jr’s campaign to hold these industries accountable by reforming our food and medicine approval and patenting systems. In this, he is uniquely qualified: the $1.7 trillion pharmaceutical industry has unfairly maligned him for decades, and he’s still standing strong.

Our great American farmers know this Big Food fight, and they are under incredible pressure. Family farms are closing or selling to commercial factory farms at an alarming rate. Farmers did better under President Trump than at any other time, thanks to his efforts to open new markets, use effective tariffs to force fair competition, and lower costs to make farming profitable again.

Heart disease, cancer, diabetes and most of the leading causes of death relate to what we put in our bodies, knowingly or not. Our nation knows from our COVID experience that people suffering from these chronic conditions are far more vulnerable to disease.

6 ‘HEALTHY EATING CONCEPTS’ ARE EVALUATED AS TRUE OR FALSE BY NUTRITION EXPERTS

Many factors have conspired to leave Americans overweight, stressed, unhappy and unwell. When we eat healthy, exercise, sleep consistently and sustain our routines, we feel better. 

Just like the cell is the fundamental building block of our bodies, our bodies are the fundamental building blocks of our country, our society and our culture. I know President Trump understands this.

Food production is not only a matter of national security and well-being – and a sizable chunk of all economic activity – it is our birthright. Today, with the leadership of President Trump and RFK Jr., America stands at the edge of a new dawn in sustainable, profitable and healthy farming that preserves our environment and supports this essential American industry.

CLICK HERE FOR MORE FOX NEWS OPINION

Making America healthy again isn’t just about how we look on the beach, it’s about healing our culture and our nation from the ground up, and we must start with our children. 

President Trump will lead us into this brighter, healthier future – and he chose the right man for the job in Robert Kennedy.

Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Trump are virtually tied in three crucial battleground states, according to new statewide surveys from Marist College.

The Marist Poll released Thursday finds that Harris and Trump are tied at 49% among likely voters in North Carolina who were asked which candidate they were leaning toward. Of those polled who have made up their minds, 91% said they strongly support their choice.

The race is tight in Arizona as well, where Trump polls just one point ahead of Harris, 50% to 49%, according to the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. The same goes for Georgia, where 50% of likely voters are leaning towards Trump and 49% say they are more inclined to vote for Harris.

The Marist Polls were conducted from Sept. 19-24, surveying 4,643 registered voters across all three states who report they are definitely voting in this year’s election. 

HARRIS-TRUMP SHOWDOWN: THE EDGE IS CLEAR ON THIS KEY ISSUE

There are 43 Electoral College votes up for grabs between Arizona, Georgia and North Carolina. Trump, a Republican, won all three in his 2016 victory over Democratic nominee Hillary Clinton, but lost Arizona and Georgia to President Biden in his 2020 defeat. North Carolina, a swing state that Trump won twice, has an incumbent Democratic governor and appears more competitive this year as the Republican candidate for governor, Mark Robinson, is mired in scandal over posts he allegedly made on a porn website and polls poorly against state Attorney General Josh Stein, the Democratic candidate. 

“North Carolina, with its 16 electoral votes, is both the Harris and Trump campaigns’ backup plan after the hard-fought battle over Pennsylvania,” said Dr. Lee M. Miringoff, Director of the Marist Institute for Public Opinion. “North Carolina is so close that the five regions in the state line up now almost exactly as they did four years ago. It’s as if the Biden years and the 2024 campaign haven’t happened.”

Harris and Trump are tied at 48% among North Carolina independents who are likely to vote. Biden carried Tar Heel independents by four points in 2020, according to the 2020 Presidential Exit Poll. Harris leads Trump among Black voters 86% to 13%, but underperforms compared to Biden, who earned 92% of the Black vote in North Carolina in 2020. Trump has an advantage over Harris with white voters, 59% to 40%, though Harris has improved with this demographic over Biden, who won 33% of the white vote in 2020. 

The top issues for North Carolina voters are inflation (32%), preserving democracy (28%), immigration (14%) and abortion (11%), according to the poll. 

HARRIS AND TRUMP DEADLOCKED IN PENNSYLVANIA AS FORMER PRESIDENT TRAILS IN OTHER ‘BLUE WALL’ STATES: POLL

Former President Trump arrives for a campaign rally at Wilmington International Airport in Wilmington, North Carolina, on Saturday. (AP Photo/Alex Brandon)

In Arizona, Harris edges Trump among independents 51% to 47%. Biden won Arizona independents by 9 points four years ago, 53% to Trump’s 44%. Again, Trump leads Harris among white voters 51% to 48%, while the Latino vote is competitive, with 51% leaning towards Trump and 49% towards Harris.

The top issues for Arizona voters are preserving democracy (27%), inflation (26%), immigration (21%) and abortion (14%), the survey said.  

“Arizona’s 11 electoral votes are up for grabs, but the Democratic candidate for U.S. Senate (Rep. Ruben Gallego, D-Ariz.) has a double-digit lead,” said Miringoff. “Voters in the state, like elsewhere, are willing to split their ticket this time unlike the straight party voting that occurred in 2016 and 2020.”

Harris also leads Trump among Georgia independents by five percentage points, 51% to 46%. Similar to Arizona, Biden won Georgia independents by nine points in what was the first presidential election win for Peach State Democrats since 1992. Trump heavily contested the 2020 results in Georgia and continues to make unproven allegations of widespread voter fraud that have been rejected by Georgia officials, including Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. 

EARLY VOTING BEGINS IN ILLINOIS, NORTH DAKOTA, FLORIDA AND MICHIGAN

Harris campaigns in Georgia highlighting the issue of abortion.  (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

“Georgia was ground zero for election controversies in 2020. Yet, the overwhelming majority of Georgians express confidence that elections will be fair and accurate,” said Miringoff. “Interestingly, most Democrats and Republicans share this view despite the results last time.”

Georgia voters rank inflation as the top issue (34%), followed by preserving democracy (24%), immigration (13%) and abortion (11%).

A Fox News national poll taken after the first debate between Harris and Trump spotlighted that 39% of voters surveyed said the economy was their most pressing issue, far ahead of immigration (16%) and abortion (15%). All other issues tested were in single digits. 

“An increasing number say grocery prices and housing costs are tough for their family,” the Fox News poll notes.

Trump led Harris on the economy by five points in the Fox News poll. 

“The issue profile of this election continues to favor Trump,” said Republican pollster Daron Shaw, who conducts the Fox News Poll along with Democrat Chris Anderson.

But Shaw added that Trump’s “edge on economic issues has decreased, probably due to Harris’ messaging on housing costs and taxes, both of which target the middle class and appear to be paying off.”

Fox News Digital’s Paul Steinhauser and Victoria Balara contributed to this report.