The MAHA Schism: What Trump's Surgeon General Pick Reveals About Our Food System Fight
The Casey Means nomination fight exposes the battle lines in America's food revolution: metabolic health reformers versus those Big Food and Big Pharma's advocates
What You'll Learn in This Article:
How the Surgeon General battle reveals the food system insurgency taking place in America
Why the industrial food complex is mobilizing to block true health sovereignty advocates
The five competing factions fighting for control of America's nutritional narrative
What the Calley Means appointment strategy tells us about deep-state food control
Why regenerative agriculture terrifies corporate interests more than any other movement
How to identify genuine allies versus controlled opposition in the nutritional defiance war
In the most significant food system power struggle of 2025, President Donald Trump's nomination of Dr. Casey Means for U.S. Surgeon General has ignited a full-scale civil war within the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) movement, with her brother Calley Means' potential appointment as Deputy Secretary for Food Policy intensifying the conflict.
This isn't a routine Washington drama. This nomination battle represents the actual frontline in the food sovereignty war that will determine whether Americans reclaim control over their metabolic destiny or remain enslaved to an industrial food system designed for corporate profit and population control rather than human thriving.
The Revolution Will Not Be Pasteurized
The Means siblings controversy has fractured the MAHA coalition into five increasingly hostile factions, each with radically different visions for America's health future:
Calley Means, who already serves as an adviser to Kennedy, has been rumored for appointment as Deputy Secretary for Food Policy—a potentially more powerful position for food system reform than his sister's Surgeon General role. His background includes:
Co-founding with Casey the metabolic health company Levels Health
Serving as a former lobbyist with expertise in regulatory frameworks
Co-authoring with Casey the book "Good Energy: The Surprising Connection between Metabolism and Limitless Health"
Becoming a vocal critic of what he terms the "food-pharmaceutical industrial complex"
According to Washington insiders, the strategy may involve a "sibling pincer movement" where Casey focuses on public messaging while Calley works on dismantling regulatory capture. This approach mirrors how the industrial food system itself operates—with public-facing "health" messaging masking behind-the-scenes political manipulation.
Why this matters: The possibility of both Means siblings holding key positions represents an unprecedented threat to established food system players. The coordinated attacks on Casey likely serve as a proxy war to prevent the more dangerous possibility of Calley gaining regulatory influence over food policy.
Follow the Seed Oil Money Trail
The agro-ecological warfare against the Means siblings isn't happening in isolation. Their support for metabolic health interventions and continuous glucose monitoring represents a direct threat to multiple billion-dollar industries:
Ultra-processed food manufacturers rely on cheap industrial seed oils (soybean, canola, corn)
Pharmaceutical companies profit from treating symptoms rather than addressing dietary root causes
Agricultural commodity giants depend on government subsidies for corn and soy production
Medical device and diabetes management firms benefit from expanding rather than preventing metabolic disease
A Surgeon General who names industrial seed oils, ultra-processed carbohydrates, and factory farming as public health threats would revolutionize American nutrition policy.
This explains why food industry representatives have reportedly engaged in unprecedented lobbying against the nominations. As we've consistently documented at The Regenaissance, Big Food's lobbyists write the very policies that determine what appears on supermarket shelves, school lunch trays, and ultimately, your bloodstream.
Blockchain-Tracked Beef > USDA Grades
What's particularly revealing about the Means siblings controversy is how it exposes the false dichotomy in our food system debate. Just as Bitcoin provides a decentralized alternative to central banking control, regenerative agriculture offers an entirely different paradigm than the industrialized "sustainable" greenwashing promoted by corporations.
Casey Means' advocacy for data-driven health monitoring aligns perfectly with the decentralized future of food—where consumers can track regenerative practices, nutrient density, and metabolic impacts directly rather than relying on corrupt regulatory systems. This explains why both establishment Republicans and Democrats oppose her nomination despite their supposed ideological differences.
The MAHA Institute's May 2025 launch, coinciding with Casey's nomination, represents this institutionalization attempt. The think tank explicitly advocates:
Transitioning 30% of U.S. farmland to regenerative models by 2030
Requiring Brix readings (measuring nutrient density) for all federally-purchased foods
Eliminating all seed oils from the USDA's MyPlate recommendations
Restructuring agricultural subsidies to favor regenerative practices
This direct assault on industrial agriculture's foundation would revolutionize not just health outcomes but the entire economic structure of American food production. No wonder the establishment is fighting back with such coordinated ferocity.
The Confirmation Battle: Odds of Revolution
According to recent PredictIt odds, Casey Means has just a 39% chance of confirmation, up from 28% before the MAHA Institute launch but still facing significant headwinds.
For Calley Means, whose appointment wouldn't require Senate confirmation if structured as a special advisor role, the path to influence appears clearer but still faces institutional resistance.
Ancestral Wisdom Meets Data-Driven Revolution
The core of this conflict transcends political theater. It's about whether our food and health systems will be guided by ancestral alignment or continue their descent into industrial exploitation.
Casey Means' rejection of conventional medicine in favor of a functional approach addressing root causes has made her a target. Critics mock her for alleged spiritual practices and lack of an active medical license, while supporters celebrate her departure from the pharmaceutical paradigm.
This mirrors the false choice the industrial food system presents between "sustainable" (but still corporate-dominated) practices versus truly regenerative, ancestrally-aligned food production. True thrivable food systems require breaking entirely from the industrial model, not merely reforming it with "plant-based" alternatives that are actually lab-based ultra-processed imitations.
The metabolic health approach the Means siblings champion fundamentally threatens corporate interests because it asks the forbidden question: What if our modern diseases aren't inevitable? What if they're the direct result of forcing human metabolism to process foods it was never designed to consume?
The Soil Health = Human Health Connection
The principle that soil health equals human health forms the foundation of both regenerative agriculture and metabolic health advocacy. The Means siblings' focus on glucose dynamics and insulin resistance directly connects to how we grow food.
Studies consistently show regenerative farms produce food with significantly higher polyphenol content (28% higher) and omega-3 fatty acids (48% more) than conventional agriculture. The Bionutrient Institute's research demonstrates that the same vegetable grown in living soil versus depleted industrial dirt can contain vastly different nutrient profiles.
When Casey advocates for continuous glucose monitoring and personalized nutrition, she's indirectly supporting the case for moving away from standardized industrial food production toward regionalized, soil-building agricultural systems. Meanwhile, Calley's regulatory expertise threatens the subsidy structure that makes processed foods artificially cheap.
The "Manchurian Candidate" Factor
The bizarre "Manchurian asset" accusation against the Means siblings deserves special attention. This type of character assassination—implying they're somehow foreign agents or brainwashed operatives—reveals the establishment's desperation.
Throughout history, when reformers threaten entrenched powers, they're inevitably smeared as radicals, extremists, or foreign agents. The regenerative agriculture movement has faced similar treatment—labeled as anti-science or economically unfeasible despite growing evidence to the contrary.
What's particularly revealing is how opponents attack the siblings' most radical ideas:
Casey's promotion of fasting and dietary intervention over pharmaceutical management
Calley's criticism of fluoridation and agricultural chemical exposures
Their shared advocacy for eliminating ultra-processed foods from federal programs
Their challenge to the FDA's lax oversight of food additives
These ideas aren't extreme—they're backed by substantial scientific evidence. Yet they threaten too many powerful interests to be given fair consideration.
Corporate Media's Role in the MAHA Civil War
Just as industrial agriculture depends on monocropping, the corporate media ecosystem functions through mono-narrative control. Major media outlets have framed the Means controversy purely in terms of credentials and political horse-race dynamics while deliberately avoiding substantive discussion of their actual policy proposals.
Notice how mainstream coverage routinely describes Casey as a "wellness influencer" rather than addressing her Stanford medical education or the content of her scientific publications. Similarly, Calley is framed as a "former lobbyist" rather than a policy expert challenging regulatory capture.
This language choice is deliberate—designed to diminish their expertise and frame them as outsiders to legitimate health policy discussions. It mirrors how regenerative farmers are often described as "alternative" rather than recognized for pioneering evidence-based approaches to soil building and ecosystem restoration.
The Real Stakes: Regenerative Revolution or Industrial Capture
Whether the Means siblings ultimately secure their roles matters less than what this conflict reveals about power structures in our food and health systems. The coordinated opposition from such disparate factions—establishment medicine, Big Food, Big Tech, and even supposed allies—demonstrates that genuine food system transformation threatens nearly every major institutional power center.
This is why our work at The Regenaissance remains vital. By exposing corporate malfeasance, championing local food systems, and providing evidence-based alternatives to industrial propaganda, we're strengthening the movement that can ultimately transform America's relationship with food.
In many ways, this political battle mirrors what we've observed in agricultural communities: when regenerative farmers show measurable success, conventional neighbors initially mock, then actively oppose, before eventually adopting their methods. The industrial food system currently sits squarely in the "active opposition" phase to metabolic health approaches.
Your Role in the Metabolic Revolution
The MAHA civil war isn't just Washington political theater—it's a crucial battle in the wider war for food sovereignty and metabolic freedom. What can you do?
Become a relentless label reader. Reject products containing seed oils, high-fructose corn syrup, and other industrial additives regardless of their "sustainable" marketing claims.
Build direct producer relationships. Every dollar spent with regenerative farmers is a vote for system change and a form of food system insurgency.
Pressure local officials. School board members, county commissioners, and state representatives need to hear demands for real food in public institutions.
Share this analysis. Breaking through media narratives requires peer-to-peer information sharing that bypasses corporate gatekeepers.
Track your own metabolic health. Regardless of who becomes Surgeon General, personal data gathering provides undeniable evidence of how industrial foods impact your body.
In a system where regulatory capture runs deep, personal agency becomes revolutionary. While Casey fights for confirmation and Calley may soon enter the regulatory arena, the true power remains in our collective commitment to rebuilding food systems bite by bite, farm by farm.
FAQs About the MAHA Movement and Food Sovereignty:
Q: What does the MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) movement actually stand for? A: The MAHA movement advocates for addressing America's chronic disease epidemic through metabolic health interventions, including eliminating ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins, and rebuilding local food systems. It challenges conventional medical approaches that treat symptoms rather than root causes.
Q: How does regenerative agriculture connect to the MAHA agenda? A: Regenerative agriculture produces nutrient-dense foods free from industrial toxins while sequestering carbon and rebuilding ecosystems. This directly supports MAHA's focus on food as medicine and environmental health as a prerequisite for human health.
Q: Why are established medical and food industry groups so opposed to the Means siblings? A: They represent a direct challenge to pharmaceutical and processed food business models by emphasizing nutrition and lifestyle interventions over medication and advocating for restrictions on food additives that form the foundation of industrial food products.
Q: What is Calley Means' potential role in the administration? A: While not officially announced, Calley Means is widely rumored to be considered for a Deputy Secretary position focused on food policy at HHS, which would give him significant influence over regulatory frameworks governing food additives, labeling, and agricultural subsidies.
Q: Is the opposition to the Means siblings really about their qualifications or something deeper? A: While critics focus on Casey's inactive medical license and lack of public health experience, the coordinated opposition suggests deeper concerns about their potential to disrupt highly profitable industrial food and pharmaceutical business models through policy changes.
About the Author: Ryan Griggs is the founder of The Regenaissance, a movement dedicated to rebuilding food sovereignty through regenerative agriculture, ancestral wisdom, and radical truth-telling.
Join our insurgency against the industrial food system. The more voices united for food sovereignty, the stronger our movement becomes.