Poll: Food and Agriculture

This Navigator Research report covers party trust, which policies battleground constituents think will make Americans healthier, and food-related issues they think Congress should address.

Americans in the Battleground Want a Focus on Food Safety and Lowering Grocery Costs 

Food safety closely follows lowering health care costs as a top congressional priority for battleground constituents with 61% saying ensuring our food is safe is an extremely high priority, compared to lowering health care costs (68%). Other top priorities for Congress include food affordability (48% see it as an extremely high priority), lowering the cost of everyday goods (47%), and support for small, local and family farms (46%).

President Trump And Secretary Kennedy Are Underwater with Battleground Americans, MAHA is Viewed Favorably

President Trump is underwater in the battleground on overall favorability (-6) and overall job rating (-8). Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is also underwater on overall favorability (-7) and even more so on his job rating (-12). The Make America Healthy Again movement (MAHA) fares better with overall favorability (+7), especially among independents (+10) and battleground constituents who think food issues should be a high priority (+16).

Americans in the Battleground Want Government Action on Food and Agriculture 

A majority of battleground constituents (61%) believe the government should play a major role in ensuring people have accurate, science-backed information on their health compared to just 35% who think the government should let people make their own health choices based on what is best for themselves. 

Battleground Constituents Say Banning Chemicals from Food and Crops Would Make Americans Healthier

Battleground constituents believe food safety measures would make Americans a lot healthier. 76% say banning cancer-causing chemicals in food would make Americans “a lot healthier.” 65% say the same about banning Paraquat, an herbicide linked to Parkinson’s disease that is already banned in 70 other countries. And 55% believe banning ultra-processed foods from school lunches would significantly improve Americans’ health.

Battleground Americans Strongly Support Policies Aimed at Banning Certain Chemicals From Food and Supporting Farmers

Support among battleground constituents is especially high for banning cancer-causing chemicals in food (85% strongly support) and increasing support for local farmers selling to schools and grocery stores (79% strongly support). Other policies including increasing access to grocery stores, restricting unhealthy foods for people using food assistance, and requiring warning labels on ultra-processed foods were less popular.

Americans in the Battleground are Concerned About Cuts to SNAP and Lack of Funding for School Lunches

Battleground constituents are concerned about cuts to SNAP (49% say it’s a top concern) and lack of funding for school lunches (28% say it’s a top concern) as well as Trump’s refusal to ban dangerous pesticides (46%) and cutting funding for food safety inspections (26%). They’re also concerned about potential corruption from Trump putting former food and agriculture lobbyists in charge of the country’s food policies (41%) and the administration giving more power to the corporate food industry (26%). 

Americans in the Battleground Trust Democrats’ Agenda on Food-Related Issues and Republicans’ Agenda on Processed Food and Farmers

Battleground constituents are nearly evenly split on whether policies from the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress are making Americans more or less healthy (42% more healthy; 44% less healthy). Americans in the battleground trust Congressional Democrats’ policies more on food-related issues while Republican policies have an edge on getting ultra-processed food out of schools and supporting small, local farms. 

Democrats’ policies are more trusted when it comes to making Americans less likely to get sick (+10), improving the health of Americans (+7), making food more affordable (+6), ensuring our food is safe (+5), making healthy food more affordable (+3).

Making Gains on Food-Related Issues

After hearing more information on Trump and Republicans’ policies, Congressional Democrats make significant gains on building party trust when it comes to ensuring our food is safe (+6 gain) making healthy food more affordable (+4 gain) and easier to get (+4 gain) as well as supporting small, local and family farms (+4 gain).