DEAR READERS: Many are stunned by the executive branch's new food pyramid, the recommendations of which benefit the beef and dairy industries while continuing to deny climate change. The National Cattlemen’s Beef Association and the National Pork Producers Council, along with many ranchers, join those who see climate change as something to deny rather than properly address. They refuse to acknowledge their contribution to this serious issue.
When we look closely at federal regulatory agencies -- such as the Food and Drug Administration; the departments of Commerce, Agriculture, and Health and Human Services; and the Environmental Protection Agency -- we find a tangled web of corporate lobbyists, scientific shills, investors and subsidies. The truly dedicated scientists and civil servants at these agencies are being drowned out by these competing voices, if they have not been fired altogether -- at cost to the public's interests and our collective health.
In early 2025, the so-called Department of Government Efficiency crippled federal oversight responsibilities by firing 20,000 USDA staff, plus 3,500 from the FDA. And the EPA is in chaos after staff and program cuts, then subsequent partial reinstatements. Now, the EPA is reversing decades of policy and will stop including human health in cost–benefit analyses when setting air-pollution limits. Instead, the agency will only tally the costs to industry of regulating two of the most widespread toxic pollutants. So much for public health under the Trump administration!
Amid all this, the rising costs of food, health care and basic living expenses experienced by millions of people are being ignored.
The alliance between Big Ag and Big Pharma is palpable with the continued use of pesticides, and with antibiotics being fed to factory-farmed animals to increase productivity. This has been happening for decades, in full knowledge that bacteria are evolving resistance to these drugs, to the detriment of their medical use for people with infections. Pesticides have decimated insect-controlling birds and other animals, and when natural predator populations crash, insects that are harmful to crops -- and public health -- evolve and flourish.
The rectification of Big Ag’s toxic agricultural practices, which harm animals and the environment, contribute to climate change and put consumers at risk, is long overdue. These same practices ultimately lead to diet- and nutrition-related illnesses, which in turn generate profits for Big Pharma with various medications to treat them. Costly weight-loss drugs are the icing on their cake.
The maxim attributed to Hippocrates, “Let food be thy medicine and medicine be thy food,” needs greater recognition and application. Organically certified foods contain more essential nutrients, notably antioxidants, than conventionally grown produce, and of course are pesticide-free and cause less environmental harm.
Dr. Evaggelos Vallianatos, in his 2017 article “Annihilating the Natural World,” stated, “A successful business strategy of global corporations is to buy politicians and scientists to legitimize and protect their products. Second, they maintain political dominance at home and abroad by keeping the world in turmoil. They do that by bribing politicians who globalize corporate economic and consumption models -- and fight wars for petroleum and other resources.” (See the full story here: huffpost.com/entry/annihilating-the-natural-world_b_596a9443e4b022bb9372b23a.)
These “unholy alliances” between corporations and regulatory agencies need to be broken, and public trust restored in all such institutions. Otherwise, health care and insurance costs will continue to escalate, undermining the economy and national security.
DEAR DR. FOX: I am worried about my dog around my two young children. She is old, and we had her before the kids were born, and she now growls at them if they come near her food bowl when she is eating. I am afraid she might bite them, but at other times, she lets them cuddle and even ride on her back. Should I discipline her? -- O.M., Trenton, New Jersey
DEAR O.M.: Do not discipline the dog. She is simply telling your children to let her eat in peace.
Some dog trainers call this behavior “food guarding” and recommend scolding dogs for doing so. Instead, you need to instruct your children to respect the old dog’s wishes and give her space to eat undisturbed.
For more insights into dog behavior, see my book "Dog Body, Dog Mind: Exploring Your Dog’s Consciousness and Total Well-Being."
HORMONE-DISRUPTING PESTICIDES AND GENDER IDENTITY
Research over many years has shown that endocrine-disrupting pollutants, especially agricultural pesticides, affect the sexual development and reproduction of wildlife. Florida alligators are documented as an “indicator” species. (See the study "Alligators and Endocrine Disrupting Contaminants" by Louis J. Guillette et al., published in American Zoologist in 2000.)
The Trump administration's obscenely unempathetic politicization of the issue of gender identity in children, manifested in its attempts to ban young people from seeking treatment, is also totally ignorant of the possible connection with the hormone-disrupting pollutants in our food and water.
The pollutants are the problem that needs solving, not the children seeking treatment and understanding. This is a multifactor health and environmental issue that should be addressed properly, rather than the Health and Human Services department simply revoking funding for gender transitions.
(Send all mail to animaldocfox@gmail.com or to Dr. Michael Fox in care of Andrews McMeel Syndication, 1130 Walnut St., Kansas City, MO 64106. The volume of mail received prohibits personal replies, but questions and comments of general interest will be discussed in future columns.
Visit Dr. Fox’s website at DrFoxOneHealth.com.)