By The Defender Staff
Representatives Massie and Pingree Introduce Bipartisan Bill Allowing Interstate Traffic of Raw Milk
Congressman Thomas Massie reported:
Representative Thomas Massie (R-KY) announces the introduction of H.R. 7880, the Interstate Milk Freedom Act. The bill prohibits federal interference with the interstate traffic of unpasteurized milk and milk products that are packaged for direct human consumption. Rep. Chellie Pingree (D-ME) is the co-lead on the legislation.
“Executive branch agencies, such as the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), do not and should not have the power to shut down trade between peaceful farmers and willing consumers,” said Rep. Massie. “It is Congress’s job to legislate. The Interstate Milk Freedom Act would make it easier for families to buy the milk of their choice by reversing the criminalization of specific dairy farmers.”
“So many people across the country want to make sure their food is fresh and local — including fruits, vegetables, and even their milk,” said Rep. Pingree. “Raw milk is currently the only food banned for interstate commerce — an onerous regulation that hurts small farmers for selling milk straight from their cows to the consumer.”
If two states have legalized the sale of unpasteurized milk, the Interstate Milk Freedom Act prevents federal departments, agencies, or courts from taking any action to prohibit or restrict the traffic of milk between those two states. Although Congress has never passed a ban on raw milk, the FDA issued a regulation banning the interstate sale of raw milk in capitulation to a lawsuit decided in 1986. This legislation was introduced as an amendment to the 2018 Farm Bill. It was also introduced as a standalone bill in 2014, 2015, 2019, 2021, and 2024.
The Hidden Health Cost of Cheap Meat
Standing in the meat aisle at Costco the other day, I found myself doing the math that so many of us do at the grocery store. Ground beef: $5.99 a pound for conventionally grown, $6.24 for grass-fed. Not a huge gap. Then the chicken breast: $2.99 a pound for conventional, $5.18 for organic. I just stood there for a moment, holding a package in each hand like I was on a low-stakes game show, weighing the immediate hit to my wallet against the abstract promise of quality.
With food prices squeezing American households, choosing the more expensive label can feel like an indulgence. However, as a physician working with patients struggling with chronic depression, autoimmune disorders, and metabolic disease, I’ve stopped looking at the price per pound in isolation. In my practice, what people eat isn’t background noise — it’s often the intervention that their health depends on.
The question shouldn’t be whether organic or grass-fed meat is worth the premium. The question really should be: “Worth it compared to what?” Compared to the ongoing cost of managing chronic inflammation? Compared to years of symptoms that never quite resolve? When I reframe it as an investment in health, the conversation changes.
MAHA Moms Were Right: Why HHS Just Flipped the Food Pyramid Upside Down
It’s a confusing time to be an American looking for the truth about nutrition. With one of the unhealthiest populations in the developed world, the United States government has continuously promoted dietary guidelines that owe more to lobby groups than to common sense, while the people flip-flop between fad diets, from veganism to carnivore.
But in 2025, we got an incredibly refreshing update to the government’s most recent attempt at nutrition advice, namely Michelle Obama’s “My Plate.” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. released the first food pyramid in over 30 years to tell the truth about nutrition — and predictably, the media are belittling the necessary changes RFK Jr.’s new guidance makes. In the “MAHA mom” circles that I frequent, however, RFK’s food pyramid affirms a growing interest among Americans in looking towards more ancestral ways of eating.
In a recent Politico article, Press Secretary Karoline Leavitt spoke for all the young moms striving to make healthy choices amid what was an extremely confusing atmosphere. “Our children should be eating whole foods that are freshly sourced, not processed food,” she said. “They should be eating more protein, not less. They should be drinking whole milk, not skim. These are basic common sense understandings that moms have had for many years, but the government is finally acknowledging them.”
Ultra-Processed Foods Tied to Behavioral Issues in Childhood
American Medical Journal reported:
ULTRA-PROCESSED food (UPF) consumption in early childhood leads to adverse behavioural and emotional changes in young children, a 2026 Canadian cohort study has found. Higher intake of UPFs at 3-years-old was tied to adverse behavioural and emotional symptoms at 5-years-old, with the replacement of UPFs with minimally processed foods (MPF) linked to better outcomes.
The widely accepted NOVA system classifies UPFs as: “formulations of ingredients, mostly of exclusive industrial use, typically created by series of industrial techniques and processes.” Researchers analysed both internalising symptoms, such as anxiety, depression, and withdrawal, and externalising symptoms, including aggression and hyperactivity.
These adverse behaviour symptoms in childhood are widely accepted as early indicators of later mental health. Diet is a modifiable risk factor that can influence behavioural development, the study reported. As UPFs now dominate the modern food supply, researchers emphasised an imperative need to understand their influence on early behavioural development.
French Probe Into Baby Death Did Not Show Link With Nestle Formula, Prosecutor Says
A judicial inquiry launched in France after the death of a baby has shown no link with the recalled Nestle infant formula he had consumed, the Bordeaux prosecutor said on Friday. Cereulide, a toxin that can cause nausea and vomiting, was detected in ingredients from a supplier in China for several infant formula makers, triggering precautionary recalls in dozens of countries and raising concerns among parents.
“Based on the current state of the investigation, the infant’s death does not appear to be linked to the formula used for feeding,” the prosecutor said in a statement. The analyses carried out on the powdered and reconstituted milk of the Guigoz brand produced by Nestle consumed by the infant shortly before his death did not detect any cereulide, it said. The results of two similar investigations in the towns of Angers and Blois are still pending.
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IPAK-EDU is grateful to The Defender as this piece was originally published there and is included in this news feed with mutual agreement. Read More
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