America's Health Crisis On Trial: Experts Testify Against Big Food And Big Pharma

On Monday, a historic Senate testimony took place – but you didn't know about it because the mainstream media failed to give it the attention it deserved. Are media companies in bed with the same major corporations that profit from keeping us unhealthy?

The hearing featured a lineup of Ivy League doctors, health experts, and leaders, all gathered to discuss America's chronic disease, health, and obesity problems with Senator Ron Johnson. The roster was nothing short of impressive: Robert F. Kennedy Jr.; Dr. Chris Palmer, a Harvard-trained psychiatrist and author; Calley Means, TrueMed co-founder and former food and pharmaceutical consultant; fitness guru Jillian Michaels; Vani Hari, the bestselling author behind The Food Babe; Alex Clark, host of the Culture Apothecary podcast; and Max Lugavere, the mind behind the top wellness podcast The Genius Life, and many more.

Unpacking the Health Crisis

For decades, the United States has overlooked the dangers lurking in our everyday products, including additives and chemicals so harmful that they’ve been banned or heavily regulated in other countries. Some who testified, Alex Clark for example, cited mothers’ concerns for their children. Why must our kids receive endless shots and get bombarded with microplastics? Why do adults have to be medicated while nothing is being solved on a fundamental level? Doctors are treating symptoms instead of addressing the root causes of these health crises. Thousands of toxic substances found in cosmetics and food have been outlawed in Europe, but the U.S. has only banned a mere fraction. The FDA may deem certain additives "safe," but the long-term effects of exposure to these substances tell us otherwise.

The current state of America is affecting our health and well-being, which is precisely why so many dedicated individuals took a stand at the Senate. Yet, it’s disheartening – but not at all surprising – that this critical issue has received little to no coverage in the mainstream media, aside from Fox News.

The Atlantic Fails to Recognize the Issue

It’s eat the rich until corporate interests or political conflicts come knocking, and suddenly the pitchforks are put away. The Atlantic decided to cover the hearing but in the least empathic, most stuck-up and biased way possible. Written by Elaine Godfrey and published by The Atlantic, the piece "The Woo-Woo Caucus Meets" labels the non-partisan event as "Woowoo meets MAGA," or the "crunchification of conservatism." Never mind how The Atlantic completely disregarded the expertise of doctors from Harvard, Stanford, and Johns Hopkins, all who possess far more knowledge and experience in health matters than the author.

It’s rather upsetting that a major publication would completely ignore and trivialize Americans' concerns over health and safety issues in favor of siding with corporations. Why are they so quick to discount and even mock the genuine fears of countless individuals? This signals a hidden agenda between media narratives and corporate interests. You’ve got to be blind to not see this. 

“What kind of publication sees the absolute atrocities being committed against our children and their health and decides to write an article mocking a non-partisan panel working to get poisonous chemicals out of their food?” Alex Clark asks me. “The Atlantic, apparently. Do they hate children? I can’t speak for them, but it’s a question worth asking.”

Jillian Michaels took to X to explain that David Bradley, a major partner in The Atlantic, "made billions of dollars consulting with big Pharma." She mentioned that Bradley sold his advisory firm to Optum, a pharmacy benefit manager that profits from the chronic disease crisis.

Calley Means, the best-selling author of Good Energy and co-founder of TrueMed, states the obvious. "The media is the biggest funder of the media's pharmaceutical industry," he said on a phone call with Evie. "And it's absolutely just shameful that the mainstream media either covers this derisively or doesn't cover it all when doctors from St. Johns Hopkins and Harvard and Stanford world-leading experts are talking about what's making kids sick."

Means noted that the four-hour testimony wasn't a political performance; it was a "science-backed and very passionate" effort to address the root of children's health issues. Yet the media shamefully attacked and ignored it. It was completely nonpartisan, with attendees from both Republican and Democratic backgrounds.

"Nothing is more profitable right now than a sick child," he said.

The former food and pharmaceutical consultant didn't hold back when calling out the system, emphasizing that "we subsidize really bad food for kids," leading to a costly health crisis that "spends trillions of dollars" from our government. The Senate itself, including its staffers, is "in the pocket of pharma and being co-opped by pharma," but he found hope that such a critique is even possible in this country.

"It's a rigged system, and it needs to stop," Means said. Despite political differences, he noted that this issue is finally "going to the top of the national agenda," signaling that this fight for change is just beginning for our country.

Why America's Health Crisis Demands Immediate Attention

Color additives serve no nutritional purpose; they exist solely to make products more visually appealing to children. These dyes, including Yellow 5 and Red 40, have been linked to issues like aggression and ADHD. They are banned in foods for infants in Europe, while American brands like Kraft Mac and Cheese have faced backlash over their use of such additives, leading to a reformulation in response to consumer outcry. How is any of this considered woo-woo when the evidence is right there and scientifically supported?

Lugavere, an influential voice in the wellness community, also took to the floor to discuss the ultra-processed foods dominating supermarket aisles. "Ultra-processed foods...are engineered to be hyper-palatable and addictive," Lugavere said, later referencing a study that likened these foods to tobacco products in terms of their addictive nature, noting, “Seminal NIH-funded research clearly shows their obesogenic effect.” According to Lugavere, these foods compel us to overeat by as much as 800 calories per day due to their inferior quality. 

Vani Hari, known as the Food Babe, highlighted the disturbing disparities in food ingredient regulations between the U.S. and the U.K. She revealed that while U.S. Skittles contain 11 ingredients – including a neurotoxin preserved with formaldehyde – U.K. versions contain only three, with salt as optional. “This is why I became a food activist,” Hari declared. She implored the audience to consider how American companies have manipulated food ingredients, pushing harmful additives while banning safer options overseas. Her message was clear: Americans deserve the same health standards as citizens of other countries.

Recognizing the urgency of the situation, Hari wrote in an email to Evie, “The game of Whack-A-Mole I have been playing with other concerned citizens has gone on long enough.” She stressed that it’s time for American companies to stop serving more toxic ingredients to their own citizens while producing safer versions for consumers overseas of the same products. “This is a moral issue,” she added, announcing her plans to bring over 115,000 petitions to Kellogg's HQ on October 15 to hold the company accountable for its practices.

There is nothing "woo-woo" or conspiratorial about the American diet and environment. More than 100 million adults in the U.S. are obese, with more than 22 million adults being severely obese. The numbers increased from 30.5% in 1999-2002 to 41.9% in 2017-March 2020, and it's getting worse. Today, 1 out of 36 kids are diagnosed with autism spectrum disorder, compared to just 1 in 68 in 2010. Millions of Americans are dealing with chronic health conditions, and that's expected to increase to 170 million by 2030.

People Are Waking Up – and They’re Fighting

While The Atlantic was quick to attack all of these issues, Lugavere and the many attendees remain hopeful and grateful. The event may not have made headlines, but these gatherings are happening, and they’re full of passionate individuals – concerned parents, dedicated health experts, Democrats, and conservatives – all united by a common goal. Lugavere said it best. “It was an incredible day, completely no holds barred, where leaders in health — physicians, scientists, journalists, and activists — called out the corporate capture of our regulatory bodies and academic institutions by the food and pharmaceutical industries at the expense of American health,” he wrote in an email to Evie. “We provided real, sensible, evidence-based solutions to the urgent public health crisis, focusing on food and nutrition.”

“It’s deeply frustrating that such critical discussions have been largely brushed aside by mainstream media, which, not surprisingly, often reaps the benefits of hefty advertising from the very industries we’re challenging,” he added. “Yet, despite the lack of coverage, this grassroots movement is gaining momentum. The voices raised at the Senate are a clarion call for change, echoing the urgent need for accountability in how our food and health systems operate. I stand alongside Calley Means and all the courageous advocates who are shining a light on this issue. Together, we will continue to speak up for the American people because, ultimately, our health and well-being should never be compromised for profit. It’s time to demand the standards we deserve.”

As chronic diseases continue to rise, the experts made it clear that it's time for America to reevaluate the way corporations have mistreated consumers. As Hari put it, “I only want one thing. I want Americans to be treated the same way as citizens in other countries by our own American companies.”

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