8:30am

Welcome/Keynote

9:00am

Plenary session: The MAHA Mid-Terms

Approximately 1 in 20 voters who backed President Trump for the first time in November 2024 said they did so because he vowed to “make America healthy again.” Thus far, the Administration’s policies have had wide ranging impacts on food product reformulation, food assistance programs, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, and tariffs on foods and food ingredients. Political strategists on both sides of the aisle are looking to MAHA voters to boost their candidates’ prospects in the 2026 midterm elections. How will recent policy changes affect the food system and how will electoral politics in turn influence MAHA food policy priorities?

Moderator

Phillip Wegman
Real Clear Politics

Panelists

Joy Dubost
NJOY Health and Nutrition, LLC

Peter Lurie
Center for Science in the Public Interest

Charlie Misseijer
Moms for Liberty

9:50am

Plenary Session: Food Federalism

The Trump Administration has applauded state laws that introduce new labeling requirements for, or outright ban, foods with ingredients like synthetic dyes. However, it has also sued California to block the state’s cage-free egg and animal welfare law. At the same time, Congress has debated legislation to create federal standards and preempt state regulation of food expiration date labeling, pet food, pesticides, food additives, and more. How should state and federal food policy interact? When is federal preemption justified, and when should states act as “laboratories of democracy” on food policy?

Panelists

Ricardo Carvajal
Hyman, Phelps & McNamara, P.C.

Scott Faber
Environmental Working Group

Emily Broad Lieb
Harvard Law School

11:00am

Concurrent Session 1:

Pest Pressure, Pesticides, and Consumer Protection

U.S. farmers spend an estimated $16.5 billion on pesticides, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which has recently eased restrictions on the chemicals’ use. But concerns about longstanding policies governing pesticide application have been growing across the political spectrum. What is the proper role of pesticides in agriculture? Where is there consensus for reform? What are the risks facing consumers and farmworkers?

Moderator

Greg Jaffe
Reporter

Panelists

Melissa Perry
George Mason University

Kelly Ryerson
Author

Concurrent Session 2:

Unpacking the Dietary Guidelines for Americans

Since their initial publication in 1980, the Dietary Guidelines for Americans have remained relatively consistent. How does the latest iteration of the DGAs fit into that context? This panel discussion will examine how the new DGAs deviate from past guidelines, as well as recent Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee recommendations, with respect to advice on ultra-processed foods, saturated fat, alcohol, and other areas, and what these changes say about the future of official dietary guidelines in the U.S.

Moderator

Maya Maroto
The Coalition for Metabolic Health

Panelists

Tom Brenna
University of Texas

Kelly Horton
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics

Nina Teicholz
Journalist

Concurrent Session 3:

Food and Faith

Faith-based organizations have long played an outsized role in U.S. food assistance, with many working to influence public policy through advocacy and education. What is the appropriate role of faith-based organizations in food policy? How are faith-based organizations responding to changes in the federal food policy landscape? How does the work of faith-based food assistance organizations relate to the larger role of religious movements in politics that have called for reducing government food assistance?

Panelists

Liza Lieberman
MAZON

Jessica Moerman
Evangelical Environmental Network

Bob Pezzolesi
Interfaith Public Health Network

12:30pm

Lunch / Keynote

1:30pm

Concurrent Session 1:

Food Inflation Strikes Back

After soaring pandemic era inflation, food prices seemed to stabilize, only to begin creeping upward again during the first months of the second Trump Administration. What are the most important factors driving food inflation? How are consumers and industry adjusting to higher prices? How much does food inflation undermine progress towards improving American diets and reducing diet-related disease?

Panelists

Phillip Connor
FWD.us

John Iselin
Yale Budget Lab

David Ortega
Michigan State University

Concurrent Session 2:

Losing Sight of Foodborne Illness Risk

As concerns about food chemical safety risks surge, federal funding cuts have raised concerns about the health systems responsible for detecting foodborne illness outbreaks. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, federal funding, mostly through the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, accounted for an estimated 55% of local health department budgets. With cuts at CDC exacerbating pressures to cut back on foodborne illness disease surveillance, how are state and local policymakers responding? Do recent policy changes track consumer perceptions of risk related to chemical and microbiological food safety?

Moderator

Barbara Kowalcyk
The George Washington University

Panelists

William K. Hallman
Rutgers University

Bill Marler
Marler Clark, LLP

Stephen Ostroff
S Ostroff Consulting

Concurrent Session 3:

Feed the World?

Nearly a year after the dismantling of USAID, the largest ever restructuring of U.S. foreign aid programs has triggered a cascade of foreign policy and humanitarian responses. What lessons can be gleaned so far? Why have many other industrialized countries similarly reduced foreign aid commitments? How have these changes affected hunger across the globe? How will foreign aid cuts affect the U.S. agriculture industry?

Panelists

Matthew Nims
World Food Program

Sakeenah Shabazz
Bread for the World

3:00pm

Food Policy Ideas Salon

4:00pm

Plenary Session: Food Assistance in Transition

For the first time ever, federal food assistance benefits were cut off to millions of Americans during the federal government shutdown in Fall of 2025. Funding for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program has since been restored, but the One Big Beautiful Bill Act expands work requirements and makes other reforms that will eliminate or significantly reduce SNAP for approximately four million beneficiaries. As states implement these reforms, what is the impact? How are consumers, industry, and state and local policymakers adapting?

Moderator

Teon Hayes
Center for Law and Social Policy

Panelists

Randy Alison Aussenberg
Congressional Research Service

Sara Bleich
Harvard University

Radha Muthiah
Capital Area Food Bank

Angela Rachidi
American Enterprise Institute

5:00pm

Adjourn

8:30am

Welcome/Keynote

9:00am

Concurrent Session 1:

Shining a Light on GRAS

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration works to update the rules for “Generally Recognized as Safe” food substances, these ubiquitous ingredients continue to command popular attention. FDA is poised to require mandatory submission of GRAS notices for qualifying ingredients. Will more transparency adequately address concerns about the “GRAS loophole”? How should FDA respond when new evidence of harm caused by a GRAS substance emerges?

Panelists

Katya Cronin
The George Washington University

Melissa Halas
The Non-UPF Program

Rep. Natalie Mihalek
Pennsylvania House of Representatives

Stuart Pape
Polsinelli

Concurrent Session 2:

Coping with Climate Change, and Policy Change

Under the second Trump administration, many federal programs aimed at helping farmers and ranchers mitigate climate change, or adopt conservation-oriented agriculture, have been paused or eliminated. In other cases, federal agencies have preserved funding streams but introduced new criteria for grantees. How are food producers adjusting to the shifting policy landscape? How will these changes affect the food system?

Moderator

Karim D. Marshall
Consumer Federation of America

Panelists

Richa Patel
National Sustainable Agriculture Coalition

Concurrent Session 3:

The Future of Nutrition Research

As diet-related diseases have ravaged public health, support for research into how nutrition affects health and wellness has grown across the political spectrum. But nutrition research continues to face significant challenges—from inadequate funding and infrastructure to inherent complexities in studying food and diet. This panel explores opportunities for a new, coordinated approach, and what it will take to produce actionable evidence for policymakers and the food industry, rebuild public trust, and make meaningful progress against obesity and chronic disease.

Panelists

Andrew Bremer
Office of Nutrition Research, National Institutes of Health

Kellie Casavale
Texas A&M University

10:45am

Plenary session: The Latest Consumer Trends

How is media attention on ultra-processed foods and food additives affecting what consumers buy, company product portfolios, and marketing strategies? What patterns are emerging among Millenial and Gen Z consumers’ eating and food purchasing habits?  What lessons should policymakers take from the emerging food trends?

Moderator

Michael Silberman
Food Disinfo Lab

Panelists

Tim Blankshain
NielsenIQ

Lisa Feldman
Sodexo

Doug O’Brien
National Cooperative Business Association

11:40am

Plenary Session: Measuring Success—a Closer Look at SNAP Waivers

USDA has granted waivers to states across the country allowing officials to exclude sugary beverages and other “unhealthy” foods from eligibility under the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Benefits program. Administration leaders have celebrated these states as “laboratories of innovation” that will reduce public subsidies for junk food and show the way towards “bold solutions to long-ignored challenges.” As states adopt a variety of restrictions on SNAP eligible foods, how are policymakers evaluating the costs and benefits of these policies? What evidence should policymakers collect to measure the waivers’ efficacy in nudging consumers toward healthier diets?

Moderator

Jane Black
Food Journalist

Panelists

Stephanie Johnson
National Grocers Association

Jerold Mande
Nourish Science

Dariush Mozaffarian
Food is Medicine Institute, Tufts University

12:30pm

Adjourn