Week in Review: Promises made at Washington Conference 

Politicians are not shy about making promises. It’s keeping them that’s the hard part. 

At this week’s IFPA Washington Conference, June 8-10, we heard high-profile government leaders say they are going to do a handful of things that will most certainly benefit the fresh produce industry. 

Let’s start with Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who told attendees that the billions spent in government food programs, in the next six months, will align with the new federal dietary guidelines, which can be summed up as “eat real food.” HHS Secretary: All government food programs to align with dietary guidelines  – Blue Book 

There’s no realer food than fresh fruits and vegetables, which happens to also be a new marketing campaign. 

IFPA CEO Cathy Burns said IFPA and the Foundation for Fresh Produce soft launched a new consumer campaign with the tagline, “eat the realest food all day every day.” IFPA soft launches ‘realest food’ campaign  – Blue Book 

“Every meal and every snack must have fruits and vegetables,” Burns said. 

That’s pretty much what the new dietary guidelines recommend. 

The farm bill is a big deal, and the House already passed a version that several speakers said is by far the best farm bill ever for fruits and vegetables. 

Senate Agriculture Committee chairman John Boozman (R-AR) said the committee plans to release the text of its version of the farm bill in the next week or two, and he expects the Senate to vote on it before the Independence Day recess, less than a month from now. Farm bill progress could come in the next month – Blue Book 

He said it will need 60 votes to pass, so the Senate bill must get support from some Democrats. 

U.S. Representative Shontel Brown (D-OH) represents an urban district but said the farm bill and agriculture in general is not an urban or rural issue but an American issue. She said Senate Democrats will likely need to see better support for SNAP and WIC, which Senate Republicans have been rumored to want to cut. 

While the dietary guidelines recommend eating real whole foods, it has set its sights on cutting back ultraprocessed foods in Americans’ diets. Unfortunately, a suitable definition of that term hasn’t been agreed upon yet. 

Kennedy said HHS plans to present a definition in the next few months, and then once defined, support a food labeling system that uses a stoplight red-yellow-green system to show consumers what foods are healthier than others. 

“Fruits and vegetables will be green,” he said, which is something the industry can support. 

Everyone seemed to agree that raising produce consumption is a high priority that will benefit Americans’ health. 

Well, some bad news came from Washington this week outside of the conference. The latest inflation figures showed that in May fresh produce inflation was 6.7 percent year-over-year, more than double the pace of overall food inflation and above overall inflation of 4.2 percent, the highest in more than three years. Fresh produce inflation continues surge in May 2026 – Blue Book 

Weather is partly to blame for the price increases for produce, but other factors such as the Iran war raising fuel prices and tariffs are helping prices rise.  

Brown referred to the conflict as a “war of choice,” and even many of President Trump’s supporters would agree it needs to wind down, which ought to lower oil prices and thus gas and diesel prices. 

Improved economy and no foreign wars were Trump campaign promises that have not been kept. 

The produce industry will need to keep up the pressure this summer to see that all the speakers’ promises are kept or at least still progressing.