Reclaiming MAHA

Making America Healthy Again (MAHA) is a federal policy initiative led by Health and Human Services (HHS) aimed at investigating environmental toxins, ultra-processed foods, and lifestyle factors as the primary drivers of declining life expectancy and chronic disease epidemic in the United States.  Whereas MAHA has some great goals for us as individuals and families, it has issues due to its unfortunate association with DOGE cuts to Federal science and medical research and some extreme anti-science influencers on political fringes. It’s time to reclaim its potential value.

MAHA has some worthy goals as well as a memorable call to action.  An important first step taken by the Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency within the HHS that has recently refocused its mission to align with MAHA, is now prioritizing longevity, reversing biological aging, and tackling neurodegenerative diseases as opposed to finding cures for diseases like cancer.

On April 2^nd, in a joint announcement by the Department of Health and Human Services and the Environmental Protection Agency, ARPA-H launched the $144 million program called STOMP (Systematic Targeting of Microplastics) aimed at addressing emerging environmental health threats to the planet.  STOMP will be for measuring, researching, and affordably eliminating microplastics and nanoplastics from the environment and the human body.

It is clear that the health of Americans is being harmed via climate and environmental damage. Lives and property are being lost by increased storm intensity and flooding. And data is very clear that our air quality has deteriorated and global temperatures are rising. Microplastics and nanoplastics are just the most recent addition to the list of emerging environmental health threats.

So given that this is Earth Month, ACES wants to share some optimism about how local people are responding to some of these challenges of making America and our region healthier.

Let’s first give a shout out to the leadership of the First Religious Society Unitarian Universalist (FRSUU) ‘Green Team’ who have been very busy educating and organizing to heal the earth environmentally. With a focus on Earth Month, their green team members have been true advocates for making us all healthier again.  Their partnership with Newburyport’s "Toward Zero Waste" program and recent hosting of the "Beyond Plastics" presentation featuring Molly Ettenborough from the Newburyport Department of Recycling, Energy, and Sustainability are aimed at educating the public on what they can do to protect the environment and ourselves from the waste that we generate and dispose of irresponsibly.

Another upcoming FRSUU event will highlight the ecological, soil based, regenerative agricultural practices being used these days.  These techniques enrich the soil, capture carbon, and protect watersheds while producing healthy, fresh produce. Local Farms- A Community Conversation on the Promise of Local Agriculture will feature two local farmers and be sponsored by the FRSUU Green Team at 26 Pleasant Street on April 19^th at 1pm.

Meanwhile oyster restoration into nearby waters, led by Mike Conner, with the help of the Mass Oyster Project is moving forward with an ‘up-weller’, a nursery for baby oysters on Newburyport’s board walk, which produced it's first class of juvenile oysters to plant last year.  These young oysters will be reintroduced into local waters and create reefs that will make our waters healthier as the oysters filter and clean up to 30 gallons a day of water and sequester carbon in their shells as calcium carbonate. Our beach and marsh water will become healthier as the restoration goes into the future.

ACES thinks that our greater Newburyport communities are heading in the right direction and helping us lead healthier lives. Ultimately our community-based efforts to help clean our environment to Make America Healthy Again. MAHA is a worthy cause and, setting aside its co-opting by some fringe of science deniers here and there, should be supported. What can we and what can you do more to support the good parts of MAHA?

We invite you to stay updated on environmental matters by subscribing to our monthly newsletter on ACES’ website https://www.aces-alliance.org/. Please consider joining our community of stewards committed to Make Every Day Earth Day and subscribe to our Instagramhttps://www.instagram.com/acesalliancenbpt/ and Facebookhttps://www.facebook.com/ACESAlliance/  pages.

This education column was originally published by the daily news of Newburyport on April 10, 2026.