MAHA Kentucky Task Force approves recommendations
Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, speaks Tuesday during a meeting of the Make America Healthy Again Kentucky Task Force. A high-res version can be found here.
FRANKFORT — The Make America Healthy Again Kentucky Task Force unanimously approved recommendations Tuesday for lawmakers to consider during the 2026 legislative session.
Co-Chair Sen. Shelley Funke Frommeyer, R-Alexandria, said the task force has learned from health and wellness advocates during the legislature’s interim period. She said task force members want to look at lifestyle medicine and the role of nutrition.
Funke Frommeyer also said parents must provide good examples of healthy living for wellness initiatives to be effective for young people.
“We need to educate our kids, but if the parents aren’t walking it and talking and living it,” she said.
Among the group’s recommendations are calls to support “Food is Medicine” programs and encourage the purchase of healthy foods with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program dollars.
The task force is also seeking ways to improve healthy meals in schools, strengthen physical education requirements for high school graduation, and increase awareness among health care providers about the impact of nutrition and diet strategies on health outcomes.
Co-Chair Rep. Matt Lockett, R-Nicholasville, said improving health outcomes should be important to everyone and he urged lawmakers to communicate among each other on proposed bills.
Rep. Emily Callaway, R-Louisville, said she also agrees about the importance of collaboration.
“What I’ve heard come up multiple times is opportunity for our local health departments to participate. And I just don’t see a consistency there, so I’m personally going to be reaching out to that cabinet and just seeing what the disconnect is,” she said. “Louisville should have a very strong health department, and with that health department, it should include obviously this mentality that food is medicine.”
Callaway pointed to the Dare to Care Food Bank and its push to provide fresh food for the people it serves. She said the group is purchasing land to grow food and creating a facility specifically for fresh food, along with offering cooking classes.
Funke Frommeyer told task force members that other states are being proactive to promote and educate people about wellness.
“Both Texas and California have some very meaningful bills around some conversations that we’ve had presented during our interim, so I just wanted to suggest to our members consider really reviewing some of what has now been put into legislation in other states,” she said.
In addition to groups such as the Dare to Care Food Bank, Funke Frommeyer said faith-based groups can help people lead healthier lives, mentioning a large church in Louisville that has community gardens.
“There are faith-based solutions throughout the states that are taking really, really small actions that can grow into something quite meaningful,” she said.
Earlier during the meeting, Sen. Jimmy Higdon, R-Lebanon, also shared some ideas and observations he gleaned when he was a grocer.
For instance, Higdon suggested that SNAP benefits could be issued twice a month rather than once a month because milk and fresh fruits and vegetables won’t last an entire month.
Lawmakers are scheduled to convene the 2026 legislative session on Jan. 6.
