Media roundtable: Covering MAHA with Tal Kopan, Deena Shanker, and Lisa Held

This episode is something a little different: a roundtable with three journalists who've been deep in this moment in food policy, talking frankly about what they're seeing as MAHA's promises meet the reality of governing in Washington.Tal Kopan, deputy Washington bureau chief for The Boston Globe, has been reporting on the politics and also the money behind MAHA. Deena Shanker covers food for Bloomberg Businessweek and recently wrote about MAHA's school lunch ambitions colliding with funding cuts. Lisa Held is a senior reporter at Civil Eats, where she runs the Food Policy Tracker and just finished a four-part investigative series on what USDA cuts have meant for small farms and local food systems.We go behind the scenes on what it’s like to cover MAHA in this moment — and what comes next.Highlights:– How food dyes became the issue that pulled MAHA into the mainstream– The political and financial infrastructure being built behind MAHA, and what it suggests about Kennedy's long-term ambitions– Why MAHA's vision for school meals is running headlong into the administration's own budget cuts– What USDA's cuts to local food programs mean for small farms, and why those cuts are seen as anti-MAHA– The tension between MAHA as a federal policy driver versus MAHA as a growing grassroots movement at the state level– What reporters are watching next: Iowa's governor's race, Vani Hari's next political move, and whether MAHA survives its own contradictionsWhere to find our guests:Tal Kopan's reporting at The Boston Globe | @TalKopan on X | @TalKopan on BlueskyDeena Shanker's reporting at Bloomberg | @deenashanker.bsky.social on Bluesky | LinkedInLisa Held's reporting at Civil Eats | @lisaelaineh on X | Civil Eats Food Policy Tracker | @lisaelaineh on InstagramMentioned in this episode:Meet Tony Lyons, the man building RFK Jr.'s MAHA empire — Tal Kopan, The Boston GlobeGroup that supports RFK Jr. wants to change media messages on public health — Tal Kopan, The Boston GlobeMAHA's Hopes for Healthier School Lunches Collide With Trump's Spending Cuts — Deena Shanker, BloombergLosing Ground: How Trump Is Setting Back Local Food and Small Farms — Lisa Held, Civil EatsThis USDA Program Transformed Food Systems. It's Gone. — Lisa Held, Civil EatsUSDA Cuts Dismantled a Program Helping Local Food Economies — Lisa Held, Civil EatsTrump's USDA Revamped the Climate-Smart Program in a Blow to Many Small Farms — Lisa Held, Civil EatsMAHA candidate beats Trump's pick in Iowa Republican primary for governor — PBS NewsStay in touch:Sign up for Helena’s must-read weekly newsletter: Food Fix.Follow American Dish on Instagram and YouTube.Send ideas and feedback to [email protected] out Forked, the food politics podcast Helena co-hosts with the Food & Environment Reporting Network.Credits: This episode was edited by Adrienne Cruz. Original music by David Bottemiller.