Brooke Rollins All-In on USDA Reform: Food Security, Free Markets, & Fighting Obesity
- Hardik Shah
- 6 days ago
- 4 min read
Updated: 5 days ago
TL;DR
USDA overhaul underway: Rollins aims to realign USDA around farmers, shedding bureaucracy and inefficiency.
SNAP's health challenge: $15B spent on soda yearly drives obesity; Rollins vows reforms using outsider resolve.
Balancing markets and security: Despite free market roots, Rollins backs smart intervention to keep US farming viable amid global pressures.
In a wide-ranging conversation with The All-In Podcast, USDA Secretary Brooke Rollins delivered a candid and impassioned vision for the future of American agriculture. From slashing waste in SNAP and confronting America’s obesity epidemic, to ensuring farmers thrive amid global competition and rising labor costs, Rollins pulled no punches. Drawing from her deep policy roots and outsider perspective, she explained how the Trump administration plans to realign USDA around its founding mission — and why protecting U.S. farming is now a national security imperative.
This builds on her previously outlined bold USDA agenda focused on trade relief and rural growth, which we covered here.
Rebuilding USDA for Farmers First
Brooke Rollins’ mandate is clear: return the USDA to its core mission of serving farmers and ranchers. While recognizing the department’s massive scale — with over 100,000 employees and $200B budget — Rollins is intent on cutting bloat and redirecting the agency’s focus.
“There is no doubt that USDA absolutely needs a realignment, a reconstruction, and a significant reorganization.”
In just weeks, the department has already canceled $6 billion worth of contracts as part of this overhaul. While supporting food assistance programs like SNAP remains necessary, Rollins’ vision is to pivot USDA back toward directly supporting producers who, she notes, "don’t want handouts — they want to compete and win."
SNAP's Soda Problem and the Health Crisis
SNAP, which accounts for about 70% of USDA’s budget ($123 billion annually), has become a lightning rod. About $15 billion per year is spent on sugary drinks alone, contributing to alarming obesity rates — with 75% of recipients clinically obese.
“Taxpayer dollars being spent on sugary drinks and junk food that’s making our kids sick? Absolutely not.”
Rollins emphasizes the urgency of reform, highlighting bipartisan interest and her outsider freedom to act. Unlike predecessors tied to DC’s political class and lobbyist networks, Rollins says her team — along with Secretary Bobby Kennedy — can tackle entrenched interests head-on:
“This is black and white. We’re not here to serve the industry. We’re here to serve the American people.”
Her strategy involves empowering states, tightening waivers, and aligning nutrition programs with public health objectives — all while sidestepping traditional DC gridlock.
Reconciling Free Market Beliefs with Government's Role in Agriculture
A self-described free market advocate, Rollins acknowledges the irony of running a department steeped in subsidies and government programs. However, she says real-world experience — especially with foreign trade barriers — reshaped her perspective.
“Not free markets for the sake of free markets, but fair markets for the sake of America.”
Rollins frames food security as national security. With global rivals like China and Brazil buying farmland and limiting US market access, she argues that farm programs, crop insurance, and trade protection are necessary to preserve America’s agricultural independence.
“We lose our farmers and ranchers, we lose America.”
The State of US Farming: Labor Costs, Trade, and Farmer Sentiment
American farmers face tough headwinds in 2025:
Trade Deficits: Under the prior administration, ag trade slipped by $50 billion. Rollins is aggressively working to reopen lost markets (India, Japan, UK) to reverse this.
Labor Shortages: Specialty crop producers, dairy farmers, and others face skyrocketing costs. Labor expenses for strawberry farmers, for example, jumped from $700M to $2B since COVID.
Global Competition: US farmers must compete with regions paying as little as $2/hour for labor.
"How do you compete? You can’t."
Rollins promises relief. Though not yet finalized, she hints at forthcoming solutions on legal work programs and labor flexibility — all critical to easing pressure on domestic growers.
“The president himself understands this is a massive challenge... help is on the way.”
Partnering with DOGE and Tackling Farm Bill Reform
Rollins expressed excitement about collaborating with Elon Musk’s DOGE team to drive government efficiency and rethink programs.
"For the first time, we’re making deregulation fun and sexy."
As Farm Bill negotiations loom, Rollins faces a balancing act. The bill’s sheer size — with 85% allocated to SNAP and 15% to farm programs — makes reform difficult. But she’s hopeful, citing bipartisan awareness of the stakes for rural America.
“Donald Trump is the game changer here and I think he's going to help us get this done.”
Innovation in Agriculture: Balancing Tradition and Progress
On the contentious issue of cellular agriculture (lab-grown meat), Rollins adopts a cautious yet open approach. While protective of US ranchers, she does not support blanket bans and believes consumers should have choices.
“I don’t think we ever want to get in the way of stifling innovation.”
Her pragmatic view: let innovation proceed while ensuring America’s traditional ag producers stay competitive.
The Bottomline
Brooke Rollins brings a reformer’s zeal to USDA, balancing a free market ethos with deep respect for agriculture’s critical role in America’s security and prosperity. From reining in SNAP’s unintended health consequences to supporting farmers against global pressures and negotiating the politically fraught Farm Bill, Rollins is leveraging her outsider status to bypass entrenched interests and push bold reforms. While the road ahead is complex — spanning regulation, labor, trade, and nutrition — her commitment is clear: put farmers first and ensure American agriculture thrives for generations to come.
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