President Donald Trump’s National Nutrition Adviser at the Department of Agriculture, Dr. Ben Carson, is making waves after nonsensical comments about “food fresh from the ground.”
Carson, who served as Trump’s director of Housing and Urban Development during his first term, made the eyebrow-raising remarks while discussing the importance of giving children access to fresh, nutritious food.
At a “Make America Healthy Again” event Monday in Washington, Carson joined Agriculture Secretary Brooke Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. to tout new investments in school meal programs.
But things took a bizarre turn when Carson offered “sweet corn and hot dogs” as examples of food grown in the ground.
The “Harvest to Hallways” initiative will help connect “more American farmers with local schools,” the government announced. It will invest up to $70 million in school cafeteria infrastructure and up to $25 million in “Farm to School Grants” this year.
The program will also give states and school districts new tools to serve healthier, more nutrient-dense meals to America’s children.
Carson spoke at the event as children gathered around the podium in front of him, Mediate reported.
Carson started out with an absurd story about “whole milk.”
“I remember not too many months ago, Secretary Rollins and I went to a school, and we were giving the children whole milk. They were just so amazed. They said, ‘I didn’t know milk could taste this good!’” he insisted.
Then he veered off into a description of food from the ground.
“And what if we introduced them to food fresh from the ground?” he said, explaining how he’d teach them about “relationships with the farmers so they learn about the soil.”
He droned on about teaching children irrigation techniques and its impact on crops before injecting little poetry into his comments.
“They get an opportunity to eat a tomato fresh off the vine,” he stated expressively.
But then he made a comment about food from the ground that isn’t from the ground at all, and that sent the internet into a tailspin.
“It’s a different food than you get in the store, quite frankly. Fresh sweet corn and hot dogs,” he told the crowd, sparking immediate mockery.
Social media went wild, lampooning Carson and calling his intellect into question, especially as a retired neurosurgeon.
“Is he really that dumb and out of touch?” an X user wondered.
Others piled on.
“What? Just f-ck’en what,” this poster quipped.
Another agreed, “He needs to have his head examined! Hot dogs don’t fit in any nutritional value discussions.”
Commenter Humphreee Go-Kart has a long memory. “These are the same knuckle draggers who criticized Michelle Obama for her vegetable garden meant to teach kids about nutrition.”
As the childhood obesity epidemic escalated during the 2000s, the former first lady planted an organic vegetable garden at the White House and kicked off her “Let’s Move” initiative shortly after, including healthy eating cookbooks.
What seemed like such a common-sense campaign to help keep children healthy caused an uproar in some circles.
Agricultural lobbies, conservative media, and conspiracy theorists roundly criticized her efforts.
Farming groups took offense at her emphasis on organic and pesticide-free gardening, especially pesticide and chemical companies. They claimed food grown with conventional methods was cheaper, more wholesome, and more flavorful, Politico reported.
And of course, Big Ag wasn’t happy, claiming Michelle Obama’s promotion of organic and local gardening was actually a slight against their commercial industries.
