Rise of the MAHA "mom-fluencers"
Add Axios as your preferred source to
see more of our stories on Google.
Illustration: Allie Carl/Axios
The MAHA movement's not-so-secret weapon is a network of moms on social media, who use activism around wellness causes to amplify Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s calls to clean up America's food supply.
Why it matters: "Bro-casters" like Joe Rogan may help drive the political narrative, but Kennedy has turned to these "mom-fluencers" to further his agenda, which includes narratives that aren't scientifically sound.
Case in point: Influencers such as Vani Hari, better known as the "Food Babe," can be found on social media platforms and on the podcast circuits.
- Hari, who has 2.3 million followers on Instagram and is a New York Times bestselling author, got dozens of protesters to travel to WK Kellogg Co. headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, last year to protest food dyes in the company's cereals and deliver petitions.
- "I've gathered hundreds of thousands of signatures on petitions. I have a huge following. So that helps and people trust when I take on an industry or a topic," Hari told Axios.
The influencers' pet causes range from food additives and seed oils to the use of glyphosate in farming, fluoride in water and the vaccine schedule.
- But they've coalesced around Kennedy's suspicion of the pharmaceutical and food industries, and his contention that regulators have grown cozy with the businesses they're supposed to be policing.
- "It's made up of mothers who are fed up with the status quo, the mothers who see the ramifications and the consequences of poor diet and a health care system that isn't serving us," said Hilda Labrada Gore, a health coach and host of the "Wise Traditions" podcast.
Others include:
- Nutritionist Courtney Swan, who has more than 580,000 followers on Instagram.
- Moms Across America founder Zen Honeycutt, host of the "Unstoppable with Zen Honeycutt" podcast.
- Ana-Maria Temple, a holistic pediatrician with 366,000 Instagram followers.
Several influencers told Axios the movement is built around small group text chains, newsletters and social media posts that amplify shared concerns.
- They also pointed to the mobilizing power of groups like the Weston A. Price Foundation, a nonprofit that aims to restore nutrient-dense foods to the American diet and has chapters around the country.
- These influencers have mobilized support for legislation at the local and state levels and take credit for persuading food companies to take steps like updating ingredient labels.
- "It's really hard to not feel passionate about the fact that you just want American companies to use the same safer ingredients they're using in other countries. It's an unimpeachable topic," Hari said.
Policymakers have clearly taken notice.
- In March, the White House held the "MAHA Moms Roundtable," hosting some of the best-known influencers, like Hari and Honeycutt.
Reality check: While the moms discuss the value of eating whole foods, getting exercise and quality sleep, and parental choice, they've often veered into misinformation, experts said.
- Hari has pushed the message "If you can't pronounce it, don't eat it" — also featured on a recent White House video. Experts have said this claim plays on fear and could blacklist common essential compounds because of their scientific names.
- Other influencers have surfaced debunked theories about vaccine safety and argued a healthy lifestyle can protect against illness.
Influencers often embrace the fallacy that natural is good and chemicals are bad when casting suspicion on the food and drug industries, said Katrine Wallace, an epidemiologist at the University of Illinois Chicago who debunks questionable health claims.
- "Those videos go way more viral than mine, because if somebody says 'Here's the secret the government doesn't want you to know,' that's going to be compelling," Wallace said.
