Could Cory Booker and RFK Jr. form an unlikely alliance to reform the US food system?

New Jersey Democratic Sen. Cory Booker could potentially have a new and unexpected partner to push his objectives on improving the U.S. food industry during the second Trump administration.

After three years of holding a narrow majority, Booker and fellow Democrats in the U.S. Senate will now be in a 53-47 minority. Their legislative hopes will now fall at the whim of a Republican trifecta in Washington led by President-elect Donald Trump in the White House.

But the New Jersey senator could heed an invitation from Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Trump's controversial pick to lead the Department of Health and Human Services, to accomplish his goals to reform the country's food system.

At least Kennedy hopes so.

The former presidential candidate reposted Booker's video on X last month outlining the risks of chemical food additives. He thanked Booker for his "long history of leadership on this issue."

"Let's work together to end this," added Kennedy, the son of Sen. Robert F. Kennedy and nephew of President John F. Kennedy, who has promised to "Make America Healthy Again." If confirmed as HHS secretary, Kennedy would oversee the Food and Drug Administration.

Some food and nutrition policy experts say a future collaboration between Booker and Kennedy — who have overlapping priorities in this area — could be helpful for reforming the system and lead to a mutually beneficial relationship.

Kennedy could face a tough battle during his Senate confirmation hearing related to his history of promoting anti-vaccine messaging and other conspiracy theories, so finding areas of common ground across party lines on other issues could be crucial. A handful of Republicans may also be apprehensive of Kennedy's progressive perspectives on issues like the environment, said Christopher Borick, political science professor and director of the Muhlenberg College Institute of Public Opinion.

And, for Booker, working with Kennedy could present an opportunity to accomplish his goals during the Trump administration.

"If you're Cory Booker, certainly that doesn't mean you're gonna be a full-throated supporter of RFK Jr. and many of his other positions, but you see a place where you think you can get some policy successes accomplished ... you look for those, right? Otherwise, you're completely on the sidelines," Borick said.

Booker, Kennedy, and stakeholders see a dire need to address food issues

In a statement to The Inquirer, Booker, one of the Senate's staunchest advocates of healthy food and nutrition, stopped short of accepting Kennedy's invitation, but he said if the Trump administration is "serious" about these issues, he is open to collaborating.

"I've long led the fight to address our nation's nutrition crisis, get toxic chemicals out of our food, and make the farm safety net work for small farmers in New Jersey and across the country," Booker said. "I plan to continue my advocacy in the next Congress, and if the incoming administration is serious about making meaningful progress on these issues, then I look forward to working with them."

Trump's transition team did not respond to a request for comment.

Booker's office highlighted six of the senator's legislative priorities on food and agriculture, including the Protecting America's Children from Toxic Pesticides Act in 2023. In September, Booker introduced the Safe School Meals Act of 2024, which would "ban foods with contaminants above safe levels in or on final products served in school meals, and for other purposes."

Kennedy has taken frequent aim at these issues, often blaming toxins and food system practices for spurring chronic illness in the U.S. He has said food in the U.S. is "just poison" and told Fox News that "we have a generation of kids who are swimming around in a toxic soup right now" with regard to school lunches.

Booker is not alone when it comes to overlapping priorities with Kennedy; other Democrats have expressed similar positions, but many see Kennedy's anti-vaccine sentiments as a deal-breaker.

Booker has expressed mixed feelings about Kennedy's fitness as HHS secretary, NOTUS reported. He acknowledged his agreements with Kennedy on certain issues, but expressed his strong concerns about "... other issues that could undermine the safety of children," like Kennedy's position on vaccines.

"But again, I feel a big sense of urgency," Booker said. "The number one killer of Americans is diet-related diseases, and we need people that are going to begin to tell the truth about our agriculture policy."

A spokesperson for Booker did not immediately respond to a request for comment on his voting plans for Kennedy's confirmation.

Some New Jersey food and agriculture stakeholders aren't concerned with political allegiances; they just want leaders and policies that will help address what they see as the top issues in their communities, including support for local farmers, healthier food, environmental protection and conservation, and financial support from the Farm Bill, which sets the nation's nutrition and agriculture policy and is typically renewed every five years.

"It's not really that important to us whether someone's Democrat or Republican, just where they stand on the different issues that are important," said Jeanine Cava, cofounder and lead facilitator of the New Jersey Food Democracy Collaborative.

Devin Cornia, executive director of the Northeast Organic Farming Association of New Jersey, views the connection between "investing in good food and investing in health outcomes" as vital, and believes if Kennedy and the senator focus on their commonalities, they could "take the ball and run with it."

"I think there's a lot that can be done on a national level," Cornia said. "And then, in tandem, if they can create and promote policies that allow the boots on the ground, local entities, to work in a way that's congruent with what the needs are in that area."

Kennedy could be a 'disrupter' on food policy, but what can he realistically do?

Nutrition experts and stakeholders are "encouraged" by Kennedy's intention to disrupt a food system that "doesn't seem to be working," said David Sarwer, director of the Center for Obesity Research and Education at Temple University's College of Public Health.

"There have been many people on the policy side of the street and the academic side of the street who've been advocating for these changes for decades without success, and maybe it is time for a disrupter at a national level to really try to shake things loose and affect change," Sarwer said.

But some of Kennedy's priorities may be more difficult to achieve than others. Removing specific additives is a "painstaking" process at the FDA, said Peter Lurie, president and executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. The organization opposes Kennedy's nomination because of his lack of managerial and scientific experience.

Kennedy would be better off focusing on individual chemicals that the FDA could soon rule on — like the food dye Red 3, titanium dioxide, or aspartame — or reforming the overall marketplace approval process for additives, known as Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS), said Lurie, who was also a former associate commissioner for public health strategy and analysis at the FDA.

Kennedy's other goals, like promoting raw milk — which can carry dangerous bacteria, according to the FDA — or dismantling the FDA's nutrition department in charge of nutrition labels, are harmful, Lurie said.

Kennedy may have to perform a balancing act because his "best ideas are not consistent with the seeming anti-regulatory ideology of the incoming administration," Lurie added. Kennedy wants to regulate ultra-processed foods, food dyes, and pesticides on farms, but some of these priorities could instead fall under the purview of the Environmental Protection Agency or the Department of Agriculture.

"He's gonna have to buck the ideology of the Republican Party as well as opposition from the food industry to be able to pull these things off," he said. "Whether he can, or will, remains to be seen."