The potential appointment of Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services perfectly aligns with Maine’s roadmap to fix our food system. Whatever is right with America’s food system can be found in Maine. In RFK, Maine will have a partner to bring what is successful in Maine to the rest of the country.

As a chef, my life is rooted in food. While I have always loved food and restaurants, my love transitioned from hobby to career while living and attending college in Maine. It was here I learned about local food systems, sustainability, and how a properly well-managed resource (Maine Lobster) is best managed by the fishermen themselves with little government intervention. I have spent many days driving around Maine seeking out local potatoes, blueberries, and of course whoopie pies. Maine’s local products are iconic and the perfect representation of how properly managed food systems, with minimal government intervention and no massive subsidies, can produce nutrient-rich food, but this culinary utopia is at risk. This is why when I think about the pending RFK Jr. nomination, I think about Maine.

Maine has always been at the forefront of the local food movement, not because it’s trendy, but because they have been able to preserve their farming practices against a backdrop of industrial farming, globalization and corporate consolidation.

The people of Maine appreciate that sustainable food options are a must for both economic and nutritional prosperity. Around the state, chefs are known to feature local food selections as specific as the spot on the bay where an oyster was harvested. Mainers effectively invented the term locavore with their heirloom gardens, local dairy and backyard chickens.

But Maine isn’t immune to the problems we face today when it comes to food and health. Childhood obesity rates have risen over the past few decades and junk food manufacturers have aggressively tried to make their way into every kid’s school lunch.

In Maine today, more than 30% of adults have obesity, a three-fold increase since 1992, and 15% of teens in grades 9-12 have obesity, a 36% increase since 2001. This mimics the numbers we have seen nationally as well.

However, Maine is the pioneer squad when it comes to fighting this. In 2007, Maine became the first state to limit junk food marketing in schools, a move that has been suggested by RFK Jr. on a national level.

Research shows that exposure to junk food ads can affect children’s food preferences and increase their risk of obesity. Maine health care agencies continue to promote a healthier lifestyle through “Healthy People 2020,” a federal government prevention agenda for “building a healthier nation” by increasing public awareness and education surrounding physical activity and tracking the proportion of children, adolescents, and adults with obesity. This is how we fix public health, by removing the propaganda and unhealthy marketing and replacing it with education and awareness — a cornerstone of the RFK platform.

This is a bipartisan issue. People want to eat real food. As a chef, I look to Maine as a North Star when it comes to real food, local food communities, food policy and a will to educate the people about making healthy life choices. It’s no surprise that chefs in Maine consistently top the James Beard Award lists, and restaurateurs from New York are moving to Maine and opening restaurants.

Let’s continue this positivity by confirming RFK Jr., and help make America eat like Maine.