There are causes I believe in that cross party lines, such as transparency in the food industry. It’s not that I need to know the calorie count or even how many servings are in a box, but I do want to see the ingredients I can and cannot pronounce. Sodium and especially sugar levels are also important to me when it comes to my children. I’ve been opposed to artificial dyes longer than I’ve been a parent.
I was introduced to the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) a few years ago while sitting next to an individual who worked at the higher levels of the organization. We bonded over our love of food, disdain for the ever-growing processed food industry, and the reality of shameful school lunches. While waiting to disembark, I subscribed to CSPI’s magazine because I support the work of those working to clean up America’s food supply. Did I know at the time that this was a left-leaning nonprofit? Yes. Did I know they were Looney Tunes? Nope. My friend, although on the left side of the political spectrum, was and remains entirely reasonable, civil, and open to debate.
After the organization did my friend dirty in the name of profits, I stopped my subscription because if you’re going to tell me who you really are, I am going to believe you. Likely on their mailing list forever (or I would be if I didn’t write this four-part series calling them out on their foolishness), I received their 2025 Progress Report and, wow, was it loaded with rhetoric, half-truths, and lies by omission.
While this makes me feel less worse about my friend’s fate at the institution, I found a deep enough appreciation in this eight-page newsletter to share it with all of you. Consider this glimpse inside the belly of the Elmer Fudd beast my Christmas gift to you.
Please keep in mind that while I spent two years teaching in the classroom, I have exponentially more years in political campaigns, nonprofit fundraising, and strategic communication. When I examine propaganda like this, whether it’s from the left, right, or center, I first identify the purpose of the material, its audience, and the core messages. In the case of CSPI, this mailer hopes to inspire confidence in current and past donors by sharing the group’s victories and then, with that confidence, create a sense of trusted urgency to give more money before the end of the year.
Part One: The Pillars of Public Health
In all my time here at CSPI, I have never seen such urgent, sweeping threats to public health. Donald Trump, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., and the rest of this administration are waging a ferocious campaign to permanently dismantle fundamental pillars of our country’s public health infrastructure.
This is the opening paragraph, written by CSPI President Peter Lurie, MD, MPH (master’s of public health). First of all, he’s been there since 2017, so it’s not like he’s been at the helm for a notable period of time. In fact, most of that was during the Biden Administration, so it’s not exactly like Lurie has any real war stories. After I had a good chuckle at that, I set my sights on identifying these so-called “pillars of public health.”
According to “he/him/his”, these cornerstones of American public health are:
- Federal health agency staff
- Ideologues in oversight and advisory roles
- Medical research grants
Never mind access and affordability, nutritional integrity, or innovation and technology — let’s focus on taxpayer-funded bureaucracy!
Deeper in the report, these ideas are fleshed out, and it’s sad to say that the meat they want to hang on these bones is little more than oversalted, overly dry jerky. No bulk, richness, depth, or benefit for its consumers. As President Trump would say, “Sad!”
CSPI claims the thousands of “civil servants” fired in the early days of Trump’s second term were the only line of defense between Americans and heavy metal and lead poisoning, bacteria, and mysterious ingredients in our food.
When it comes to food safety, it doesn’t matter if you’re a Democrat or Republican, you don’t want your child exposed to lead poisoning. You don’t want to get sick or even die from a contaminated piece of chicken. You don’t want to have to wake up in the hospital to find out that something you ate contained a life-threatening allergen.
I could not agree more, but after several hundred words eviscerating Republicans, this seems to be an odd appeal to anyone on the right. However, this flawed logic indicates that because we don’t want to die, we should be in support of swarms of government bureaucrats who pull salaries and benefits most of us only dream of for a minimal amount of consequential effort. Not a chance. Moving on!
Everybody knows the only good ideologues are the ones who agree with you, so naturally CSPI is opposed to the removal of liberal ideologues, especially when it means replacing those advocates with conservatives. Let us not forget, though, their beef is with the “unqualified” ideologue. What exactly constitutes a qualified ideologue? Pretty sure it’s just doing what your people agree with and logging it on LinkedIn.
Per CSPI’s report, the Trump administration’s ideologues in oversight and advisory roles are unable to study bacteria in powdered infant formula. They are also allegedly incompetent in preventing children from getting lead poisoning. But wait, there’s more! CSPI implies Trump folks overseeing poultry processors are actively allowing or perhaps encouraging shipping products known to be contaminated with Salmonella.
Dr. Warren Friedman is the senior advisor for the Lead Exposure Subcommittee of the President’s Task Force on Environmental Health and Safety Risks to Children. He has been in this position since — wait for it — 1995. Dr. Maureen Gwinn is the acting assistant administrator; she’s been with the EPA since 2006. Dr. Erik Svendsen is the director of the subcommittee; he was part of the removal of 20,000 federal bureaucrats but was reinstated shortly thereafter, per Fierce Healthcare:
Several days later, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. told reporters the HHS estimated 2,000, or 20%, of the recent job cuts at the department were done in error, adding reinstatements were “always part of the plan.”
RFK Jr. said at the time that the CDC’s Lead Poisoning Prevention and Surveillance Branch was slashed in error.
Wednesday, the entire lead team was rehired, along with its parent group, the Division of Environmental Health Science and Practice, according to its newly reinstated director, Erik Svendsen, Ph.D.
I don’t claim to be the smartest person in the chat, but if the top three advisors and overseers are still there, are they really “unqualified ideologues”? Help me if I’m missing something, but where’s the punchline? How is bureaucracy a pillar of American public health? It’s not, but let us continue with the public shaming!
The organization’s concern with infant formula is valid because, yes, American baby formula contains more ingredients, fillers, and byproducts than European formulas, but CSPI’s stated cause for concern is flawed. The liberal nonprofit claims the safety committee leading the study of bacteria in formula was disbanded. Period. Full stop. This action rightfully earned media scrutiny, but the re-hiring and reorganization of the shop happened in short order. But that’s not what happened.
The Office of Critical Foods (OCF) was instated by President Biden in the wake of the 2022 formula supply chain crisis. At that time, a plant in Michigan was temporarily shuttered while bacteria contamination was eliminated. During this troubling time, Biden issued an executive order that created the OCF, detailed its funding, and outlined the involved agencies with the expressed purpose of preventing another devastating break in this crucial nutrition. Given that President Trump has an innate disdain for all things Biden, he revoked the OCF order and, with Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., reorganized the project.
With regard to poultry producers peddling Salmonella-laden meat, CSPI claims the Trump Administration snatched their assured victory in passing a litany of regulations that put extraordinary financial and liability burdens on American farmers. Per the Trump Administration, the red tape did not actually address the problems that lead to Salmonella outbreak. These efforts were stopped in order to protect family-owned, small-, and mid-sized poultry businesses.
Lastly, in this article, we’ll touch on the medical research grants that CSPI claims were “illegally” revoked. The nonprofit has filed a lawsuit against the National Institutes of Health for cancelling grant funding related to DEI and gender shenanigans. CSPI states this is “a sweeping assault on science” but neglects the science that proves there are two genders: male and female.
The Center for Science in the Public Interest should defend American pillars of public health, especially because it receives millions of dollars every year from donors, grants, and product sales. But this is the real world, not a fairy-tale kumbaya drum circle, and overpaid bureaucrats are not among the fundamental tenets of American public health.Spending money we don’t have to fund hundreds of grants focused on LGBTQ+ populations does not make sense, especially when that research is already occurring in heteronormative groups.
I’ve laid out both sides and hope y’all will sound off in the comments. What do you think? Am I wrong, and non-medical providers are fundamental to health care in this country? Am I right to think CSPI is Wiley E. Coyote levels of hysterical?
Look out for the next installment of this series: CSPI’s Trump Derangement Syndrome and Vaccines.
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