Moms following a 'low toxic' lifestyle have gained prominence on social media in recent years
Texas 'crunchy moms' find voice in RFK Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' message
Texas moms Tess Smith and Diana Atieh tell 'Fox & Friends First' why RFK Jr.'s 'Make America Healthy Again' message resonates with them and why he should be confirmed as Health and Human Services secretary.
They're called "crunchy moms" – moms who think twice about cooking with seed oils, opt for breastfeeding over formula and are wary of vaccinating their kids – and they're thrilled about the prospect of RFK Jr. taking the helm of HHS.
Ever since the ex-Democrat dropped out of the 2024 presidential race and threw his support behind President-elect Trump, he has become the paramount voice in upending the status quo of health in the U.S.
"It was just really exciting," Texas "crunchy mom" of two Tess Smith said of RFK Jr.'s nomination to lead the Department of Health and Human Services Wednesday on "Fox & Friends First."
RFK JR. SAYS KIDS ‘SWIMMING’ IN ‘POISONOUS’ FOODS AS DR. MARC SIEGEL CALLS OUT ‘SICK CARE SYSTEM’
Former presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. gives remarks at the Renaissance Phoenix Downtown Hotel on August 23, 2024 in Phoenix, Arizona. (Rebecca Noble/Getty Images)
Smith, a lifelong liberal who voted for President Biden in 2020, voted for Trump this year after he forged a once-unlikely alliance with Kennedy.
"I was really excited to see a politician or someone in politics talking about something that's really important to me and has been really important to me for a really, really long time. I feel like I haven't ever heard anyone in politics talk about the issues with our food and our water and just our environment and everything, so it was really cool to see someone finally advocating and for big pharma to be taken down and just the health care system and everything."
"Crunchy mom," the Wall Street Journal writes, was "once reserved for ‘granola-loving hippies,’" but has instead become a label for women intent on pursuing a more "natural way of life," whether it involves checking food labels for artificial dyes and preservatives, cutting out refined sugars, protesting water fluoridation or taking a more natural, holistic approach to medicine.
Smith explained to Fox News that the bizarre label was originally intended to "make fun" of people like her, but really the moms behind the idea seek to live a more "low toxic" lifestyle.
PENCE SAYS HE OPPOSES RFK JR.'S NOMINATION FOR HHS SECRETARY BECAUSE OF HIS STANCE ON ABORTION
Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump shakes hands with Independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at a campaign rally at the Desert Diamond Arena, Friday, Aug. 23, 2024, in Glendale, Ariz. (AP Photo/Evan Vucci)
Diana Atieh, another "crunchy mom" from Texas, is also thrilled by the idea of RFK Jr. becoming a part of Trump's Cabinet.
"I'm really hoping that he'll change the course of health for children as a whole. Some key things that I would love for him to do would be taking out artificial food dyes, taking out all these chemicals and preservatives that we have in our country that other countries don't have, and I think making and holding vaccine manufacturers liable again… I think that just these changes would really impact the health of our children, which is something that's very important," she told host Todd Piro.
"It's so nice to see someone finally in the political arena standing up for our children for once."
Taylor Penley is an associate editor with Fox News.
