'Republican identity crisis': Tension grows between 'granola conservatives' and Big Ag allies

In today's politically polarized United States, food choices are among the many things that can become part of identity politics. Healthy eating is viewed with suspicion in some MAGA circles.

But in an article published on December 13, NOTUS reporters Evan McMorris-Santoro and Ben T.N. Mause describe a trend of "granola conservatives" or "granola Republicans" who, they say, are growing in numbers.

"One of the toughest tension points in the incoming GOP trifecta could be the Republican identity crisis when it comes to food," the journalists explain. "A growing number of Republicans who, for decades, have been staunch allies of the corporations who create and market what we eat are starting to feel like it's up to them to regulate what those corporations sell."

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Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-North Dakota) told NOTUS, "It’s not a fad. It’s a growing trend. People are taking their own health into their own hands. They're learning more about nutrition, educating themselves. And so, my wife and my two daughters and their families, they are very into it."

McMorris-Santoro and Mause cite Rep. Anna Paulina Luna (R-Florida) as a Republican who has "introduced bills to ban certain food dyes and high-fructose corn syrup in food."

The reporters note, "She's about as conservative as they come, but she sounds like a Prius owner in line at Whole Foods when it comes to warnings about food regulations."

NOTUS asked Sen. Rand Paul (R-Kentucky) if the "granola conservative movement" is "growing," and he responded, "It’s hard to give a short answer to that. but yes."

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Read the full NOTUS article at this link.