The American Food System Is a Paradox—and a Policy Failure.

It’s the weekend—and law school gets a one-day reprieve. (Though Sunday kicks off a two-week mock trial to help me answer the question: Do I really want to be a litigator?)

Weekends also mean podcasts. And I think I have a new intellectual crush. Elon still holds the crown, and Scott Bessent is a strategic beast, but there’s a new contender in the ring: Brooke Rollins.

She’s sharp, unapologetic, and—frankly—one of the more compelling voices I’ve heard on broad policy in a long time. I think of the Biden administration and truly, Trump has assembled a pretty amazing team, and he’s listening to them.

I’ll let you listen for yourself, but here are the takeaways that shocked me:

We spend $123 billion a year through the USDA—nearly 70% of that on nutrition assistance. That’s $370 million a day. And what result?

• 13% of Americans are on SNAP

• 75% of SNAP recipients are obese

• $15 billion in benefits go to soda and junk food

• 74% of adolescents overall can’t meet military fitness standards

We subsidize a system that feeds people processed food while disincentivizing work, health, and self-sufficiency.

Meanwhile, on the supply side—U.S. agriculture is shrinking. Only 2 million Americans work in ag. Farm margins are razor thin, especially for row crops. Labor is in crisis—California estimates a 20% shortage. But moreover, when wages are $20/hour in the U.S. and $2/hour in Mexico, guess who wins? Mexico on profit, the U.S. on illegal labor.

And in the trade context, let’s not forget geopolitics: $36 billion in U.S. food exports go to China while China (and others) buy up huge swaths of land and commercial meat packaging facilities, The truth is farmers want (and need) new markets—India, Brazil, Peru—because they know the writing is on the wall. Prices need to rise to support economics and exports without barriers would help.

Mrs. Rollins understands what happens when you deport illegal workers in the short term. But she acknowledges that we need to build a legal, seasonal work program that makes sense. She also knows that we need to restore dignity to the welfare system by restricting SNAP to healthy food and adding mandatory work and fitness components. Sure … we live in a democracy where you should be able to choose what you eat, and when you pay for it yourself, you can. But if it’s funded by the U.S. government, things are going to change.

The vision: support American farms by simplifying regulation and restoring labor flexibility. This is national security. It’s common sense. And I didn’t think U.S. Agriculture could be so exciting!

And as ever: it starts with asking better questions, like how we spend $123 billion on food stamps for obese people.