August 11, 2025 – A six-day event hosted by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) last week featured farm and food vendors from around the country and multiple appearances from Secretary of Agriculture Brooke Rollins and other members of the Trump administration. USDA employees also interrupted the programming to protest staff cuts and the reorganization of the agency.
Dubbed the Great American Farmers’ Market, the event featured around 60 tents, plus sponsor booths with free swag from Chobani, Tractor Supply, John Deere, and Visa. In April, the Trump administration first allowed corporations to sponsor the White House Easter Egg Roll, prompting ethics concerns about the potential for influence peddling.
At the event, farmers and food producers from Georgia, New Mexico, Minnesota, Maine, and elsewhere sold jerky, popcorn, rice, and more. Unlike at a typical farmers’ market, a smaller group of vendors sold produce, dairy products, and meat, since those vendors had to be located close enough to transport fresh items.
Rollins and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. at the Great American Farmers’ Market. (Photo credit: Tom Witham, USDA)
“We have assembled this crowd as a national celebration of local products and as a testament to the self-sacrifice and patriotism that have been exhibited by American farming families for generations,” Rollins said in an op-ed she wrote for The Washington Examiner.
When the USDA announced the Great American Farmers Market, it replaced a page on the agency’s website that used to host information about the USDA’s weekly farmers’ market, which for more than 30 years was held every Friday from May to October. Local farms had already applied to sell at that market this spring, but it never opened.
Civil Eats sources inside the agency said staffing cuts were to blame. An agency spokesperson denied that was the reason, but failed to provide an alternate explanation. Small farms that sell at farmers’ markets have also been the hardest hit by USDA funding freezes and cuts.
Attendees watch the main stage at the farmers’ market. (Photo credit: Christophe Paul, USDA)
Staffing, funding cuts, and the recent announcement of a major reorganization that would require about 2,000 more USDA employees to either relocate or lose their jobs also prompted protests at the Great American Farmers’ Market. On Monday, as Rollins, Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, and Republican governors got on stage to open the market for “MAHA Monday,” a group of about a dozen current employees booed, yelled “shame,” and chanted “USDA” as individuals in the crowd tried to drown them out with a “USA” chant.
Many of the employees wore hats, glasses, and masks for fear of retribution. They held signs that read “A weaker USDA hurts farmers” and “Support USDA unions, support American farmers.”
Protesters at the Great American Farmers’ Market. (Photo credit: Lisa Held)
As part of the Market’s MAHA Monday, prior to taking the stage, Rollins and Kennedy hosted a press conference during which Rollins signed waivers allowing six more states—West Virginia, Florida, Colorado, Louisiana, Oklahoma, and Texas—to prevent Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) participants from purchasing soda and unhealthy foods with their benefits. The move brought the total number of state waivers approved to 12.
During the press conference, Kennedy also said that he expects HHS and the USDA to release the highly anticipated 2025 dietary guidelines by the “end of September.” (Link to this post.)
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