Jack Posobiec spoke with Department of Health and Human Services Senior Advisor Cally Means about the Trump administration’s newly released federal dietary guidelines following their rollout by the White House’s MAHA initiative on Wednesday, with Means calling the changes the most significant shift in US nutrition policy in modern history.
“Well, something that’s really interesting to me is that we are not seeing the type of backlash that we kind of thought that we would be seeing from a lot of different groups out there,” Posobiec said. “And in fact, surprisingly, a lot of the main health groups in America have come out and endorsed it. How did you guys get that done?”
“At the highest level, this guidance from the Trump administration, we believe, is the most significant public health guidance in modern history,” Means responded.
Means pointed to deteriorating health outcomes as the driving force behind the changes. “We are the sickest country in the developed world,” he said. “You walk into a classroom, we have five times higher obesity rates than any other developed country. We have 38 percent of teens as pre-diabetic. There’s something very wrong happening.”
Means said the guidelines are resonating because they directly address diet. “Every mom knows that’s because of the American diet,” he said. “And the reason we’re seeing such resonance is because finally an administration had the courage to say the truth.”
According to Means, the shift was driven by direct presidential involvement. “This was led directly from President Trump to his directives to Secretary Rollins at the USDA and Secretary Kennedy,” he said. “He said, ‘I want Americans to know the truth.’”
Means described the message as simple but disruptive. “This document is very simple,” he said. “It’s a simple statement, but it’s a radical statement. Eat real food.”
The released framework replaces the traditional food pyramid with an inverted model that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, proteins, dairy, and healthy fats, while placing whole grains at the bottom. Health officials said the design reflects updated priorities around metabolic health and chronic disease.
“The headline from this document is we should fill our plate with whole food grown by American farmers,” Means said. “We should cut added sugar. We should cut highly processed food that’s the majority of school lunch right now.”
Means emphasized the implications for federal spending. “The USDA spends $400 million a day on food procurement,” he said. “The majority of that funding goes to junk food. The number one item on SNAP is sugary drinks. The number three item is potato chips. It’s crazy.”
Means said, “This is not a funding problem. We spend a lot in America on food procurement. It’s been a political will problem.”
He added that the new guidance ends what he called a long-running “war on fat.” “You can’t actually serve steak to soldiers because of this denigration of fat,” Means said. “Soldiers are emailing us saying they’re being served fake meat. That ends now.”
“Well, something that’s really interesting to me is that we are not seeing the type of backlash that we kind of thought that we would be seeing from a lot of different groups out there,” Posobiec said. “And in fact, surprisingly, a lot of the main health groups in America have come out and endorsed it. How did you guys get that done?”
“At the highest level, this guidance from the Trump administration, we believe, is the most significant public health guidance in modern history,” Means responded.
Means pointed to deteriorating health outcomes as the driving force behind the changes. “We are the sickest country in the developed world,” he said. “You walk into a classroom, we have five times higher obesity rates than any other developed country. We have 38 percent of teens as pre-diabetic. There’s something very wrong happening.”
Means said the guidelines are resonating because they directly address diet. “Every mom knows that’s because of the American diet,” he said. “And the reason we’re seeing such resonance is because finally an administration had the courage to say the truth.”
According to Means, the shift was driven by direct presidential involvement. “This was led directly from President Trump to his directives to Secretary Rollins at the USDA and Secretary Kennedy,” he said. “He said, ‘I want Americans to know the truth.’”
Means described the message as simple but disruptive. “This document is very simple,” he said. “It’s a simple statement, but it’s a radical statement. Eat real food.”
The released framework replaces the traditional food pyramid with an inverted model that emphasizes vegetables, fruits, proteins, dairy, and healthy fats, while placing whole grains at the bottom. Health officials said the design reflects updated priorities around metabolic health and chronic disease.
“The headline from this document is we should fill our plate with whole food grown by American farmers,” Means said. “We should cut added sugar. We should cut highly processed food that’s the majority of school lunch right now.”
Means emphasized the implications for federal spending. “The USDA spends $400 million a day on food procurement,” he said. “The majority of that funding goes to junk food. The number one item on SNAP is sugary drinks. The number three item is potato chips. It’s crazy.”
Means said, “This is not a funding problem. We spend a lot in America on food procurement. It’s been a political will problem.”
He added that the new guidance ends what he called a long-running “war on fat.” “You can’t actually serve steak to soldiers because of this denigration of fat,” Means said. “Soldiers are emailing us saying they’re being served fake meat. That ends now.”
