U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. brought his "Take Back Your Health" tour to Clearwater on Tuesday, Aug. 25, sitting down with Congresswoman Anna Paulina Luna and Florida Surgeon General Dr. Joseph Ladapo for a roundtable on regenerative farming and glyphosate at Life Farms.
The event began after 1 p.m. with press questions starting at 2 p.m., according to Tampa Bay 28. Leaders from the farming community also attended. Fox 13 confirmed the roundtable took place Tuesday with state agricultural leaders present.
Kennedy's Clearwater stop is part of a 19-state tour he launched in Pennsylvania in January, according to Politico. The tour promotes updated dietary guidelines and raises alarms about chronic disease. A Republican National Committee official told Politico that Kennedy remains one of the most requested Cabinet secretaries in competitive congressional districts ahead of the November midterms.
Luna represents Florida's 13th Congressional District, which covers Pinellas County including Clearwater, Largo and Palm Harbor. She faces a general election Nov. 3 against Tony D'Arrigo.
Glyphosate: the policy tension
Glyphosate, the active ingredient in the herbicide Roundup, is caught between competing forces within the Trump administration. In February, President Trump signed an executive order invoking the Defense Production Act to protect domestic glyphosate production, according to CNBC. MAHA activists criticized the move as a win for the pesticide industry.
Kennedy has a complicated history with the chemical. He was part of the legal team that won a 2018 lawsuit against Monsanto over glyphosate, which the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer has classified as a "probable carcinogen" based on limited evidence. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, however, maintains glyphosate is "not likely to be carcinogenic to humans" at typical exposure levels.
During his Senate confirmation hearing in early 2025, Kennedy struck a more cautious tone. "We cannot take any step that will put a single farmer in this country out of business," Kennedy said during the hearing. "There's a million farmers who rely on glyphosate."
Florida's glyphosate testing
Ladapo has been pressing the issue at the state level. In February, the Florida Department of Health released testing results showing glyphosate was detected in six of eight popular bread brands, including Nature's Own, Dave's Killer Bread, Wonder Bread and Sara Lee.
"Our testing found high levels of glyphosate in some popular bread brands," Ladapo said at a Feb. 6 press event in Lake Worth Beach. "Chronic exposure to glyphosate is linked to harmful gut microbiome changes, liver inflammation, and adverse neurologic effects."
Tuesday's roundtable framed regenerative farming as an alternative to herbicide-dependent agriculture. No follow-up policy action has been announced. Luna's Nov. 3 general election against D'Arrigo will test whether the MAHA message resonates in Pinellas County.
