How ‘crunchy mom’ vaccine skeptics joined RFK Jr.’s MAHA movement
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What lifestyle changes are associated with 'crunchy moms'?
In cities across the country, a growing number of American moms are embracing a lifestyle built around natural foods, fewer screens, homeschooling, and avoiding processed ingredients. On the surface, it sounds like a return to simplicity, part back to the land, part clean living. But something else is happening inside this movement, distrust of the medical system. Conspiracy theories about vaccines abound amid a political shift toward Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and his Make America Healthy Again agenda. Hello and welcome to USA Today's The Excerpt. I'm Dana Taylor. Today is Wednesday, January 21st, 2026. USA Today national extremism reporter Will Carlos has been reporting on the rise of so-called crunchy moms, the online ecosystem that shapes their beliefs and the very real consequences the movement poses to public health.
Will, thank you so much for coming back on the show.
It's always great to talk to you, Dana.
Your piece starts with two mothers in suburban Cleveland who proudly describe themselves as crunchy. They garden, check food labels, avoid dyes, and homeschool their kids. Who are crunchy moms, Will, and how do they define themselves?
Well, the label has definitely changed over the past couple of decades, really.
How has the definition of 'crunchy moms' evolved over time?
I mean, back in the day, Crunchy really described a, I say sort of an archetypal liberal, like somebody who was very progressive, your sort of classic, like tree-hugging liberal mom. These days, what's interesting is that the crunchy label has actually come to represent a very different group, which is a group of conservative moms who tend to have very traditional kind of Christian values. What's similar about the two groups is that they're all about, as you mentioned, nutrition. They're all about what their kids eat, about ingredients, about checking health and things like that. But there's also this kind of anti-vax mentality. element of crunchy moms as well. And so today, when you hear crunchy moms, basically you're talking about a conservative mother who is more than likely an anti-vaxxer.
And this aligning with conservative or anti-establishment politics, what's driving that shift?
I mean, essentially, you have a distrust in medical science, I think is what it comes down to. It's a distrust in science in general, but a distrust in medical science particularly. And one of the things we examine in the episode is this kind of dichotomy between these people. They trust the science in some ways, but they don't trust the science when it comes to vaccines. And you have this sort of grassroots crunchy moms movement happening at the same time as you have this very very organized, very kind of driven political movement that is led by RFK.
And then when we look at that contradiction, Will, how do they reconcile those two views?
What role does vaccine skepticism play in the 'crunchy mom' movement?
It's really hard to describe, but essentially, I mean, I really pushed them hard on this during my interviews, but it's very strange because they trust the sort of established science when it comes to nutrition, when it comes to food, right? They will sort of say things like, well, heavy metals are very bad for children to ingest. And the evidence that they point to are sort of National Institute of Health studies and sort of studies by large scientific organizations. But when it comes to vaccines, the studies that they're pointing at are sort of these niche, not established scientists. They're pointing at sort of people who are really kind of outliers in the scientific establishment. And they never really explain that dichotomy.
I'd say the best way they describe it is by essentially saying that most people are coming at vaccines the wrong way. They're coming at vaccines from a place of implicit trust and implicit faith in science. And they say that they simply don't have that when it comes to medical science. They say that while they will trust what the science kind of shows in general, when it comes to the medical establishment, they believe it's sort of controlled and manipulated and they refuse to kind of believe the evidence that's placed in front of them and the studies that are placed in front of them.
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Chapters
8 chapters
1
What lifestyle changes are associated with 'crunchy moms'?
0:04–1:29
2
How has the definition of 'crunchy moms' evolved over time?
1:29–3:07
3
What role does vaccine skepticism play in the 'crunchy mom' movement?
3:07–4:38
4
What political influences are shaping the 'Make America Healthy Again' movement?
4:38–6:01
5
How do mothers reconcile trust in nutrition with distrust in vaccines?
6:01–7:38
6
What personal experiences drive mothers to seek alternative medical answers?
7:38–9:04
7
How does misinformation affect the 'crunchy mom' community?
9:04–10:13
8
What is the broader societal impact of the 'crunchy moms' movement on public health?
10:13–19:12
Speakers
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