MAHA

RFK Jr.'s MAHA Cooking Show Is Government Propaganda. I Kind of Love It?

I think it's cool that conservatives are trying to make it cool to care about nutrition. But this isn't the government's place.

Elizabeth Nolan Brown | 9.7.2026 6:30 AM

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(Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. YouTube)

We're now three episodes into The Real Food Show, a YouTube cooking class hosted by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. And I'm hooked.

Don't get me wrong: In principle, I hate it. The government has no place being in the business of making cooking shows. And this one is rife with propaganda, including thanking President Donald Trump for the new U.S. dietary guidelines and casual mentions of things like fisheries regulation or an executive order on regenerative agriculture. Even if you can put aside the ick-factor of HHS trying to sneak political content to viewers like some parents might hide broccoli in muffins, this just makes it a worse show. As a cultural or entertainment product, it would be better off without random references to the likes of the Magnuson-Stevenson Act.

Besides, the presence of RFK Jr., who hosts each episode alongside a popular chef, doesn't add much. He spends most of each episode whisking eggs or doing some other sort of kitchen-helper task while the guest chef talks. Then he periodically bursts in with some propaganda while elbow-deep in chickpea salad.

Still, it's propaganda that I happen to mostly agree with. Some former dietary guidelines weren't great, and they were all too often influenced by corporate and agricultural interest groups. You should eat eggs. Fiber is good for gut health. Eating protein with meals is important, even if that message has gotten a little distorted between health experts' lips and the grocery aisle (protein Doritos, anyone?).

And do you know how long I have been ranting to anyone interested—which is, admittedly, very few people—about how Americans' ratio of omega-6 fatty acids to omega-3 fatty acids is all off? Answer: Since about 15 years ago, when I first read Susan Allport's........

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