America’s food manufacturing workers exemplify the backbone of the American spirit and support the backbone of our economy. These hardworking men and women produce the food that sustains us — the food that feeds our families and prevents us from relying on China.

The food supply chain is much more complex than a lot of us ever really consider. Costco and Kroger don’t just show up at a farm, load their trucks, and throw it on the shelf. There’s an entire industry whose job it is to take the raw product and make sure it is safe, healthy, and ready to eat. It includes everything from meatpacking, bottling, and canning beverages to washing dirt from fruits and vegetables. As a result, the average American household spends about half as much time preparing meals as it did 50 years ago.

This is no small operation. According to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, more than 2.3 million Americans work in food manufacturing, contributing more than $1.3 trillion to our economy — and are in every single state.

These jobs are essential to both the American economy and our national security — but right now, the industry is under immense pressure. Despite an increase in output and demand, the number of food manufacturing jobs is declining — a drop of more than 30,000 since the COVID pandemic.

On top of this job loss, America’s food manufacturers are facing growing political pressure. As someone who supports Making America Healthy Again, this is where things become a more complex issue.  I want our country to be healthier — and right now the MAHA movement has been focusing on individual ingredients — rather than overall nutritional content — as the cause of obesity. (RELATED: The MAHA Movement Continues to Gain Steam)

Obviously, we should be completely aware of what goes into our food — but this rhetoric misses the bigger picture: an industry already in distress is now being pushed even further to the edge. The workers behind it — blue-collar Americans, most of whom likely supported President Trump — are watching their livelihoods come under fire, originally from the fallout of Biden’s economy, but now from Republicans.

Politically, this could quickly become a losing battle. Among the top 50 Congressional districts for food manufacturing employment, seven are expected to be competitive in next year’s election. Georgia and Michigan, two of the top states for the industry, are headed to razor-thin margins in their Senate races. In races this close, affected food workers could ultimately impact the outcome.

As we strive to make our country healthier, we peel back more layers of an onion that many don’t consider. Targeting an ingredient — that many MAHA supporters believe is the right thing to do — could shift an industry so significantly that hardworking people lose their jobs. In battleground states, that could ultimately cause lost elections.

While many American consumers take for granted their food access — and the ability to have shelves of their local grocery stores stocked with food they didn’t have to pull out of the ground themselves — we need to keep in mind that a very large chunk of our population know how, for lack of a better metaphor, the sausage is made.

There is a lot to support within MAHA. Most Americans, myself included, should be exercising more and eating less — getting outside more and looking at screens less. And when it comes to our nation’s food supply, we should be supporting the farmers and millions of food manufacturing employees across the country who ensure families have access to the food and choices we so often take for granted.

I know that the president and policymakers on both sides of the aisle are grateful for the hard-working men and women who work up and down the food chain to keep America fed — we just need to be cautious of our haste to drastically change a huge industry when so much more could be at stake politically.

READ MORE from Tim Young:

The Business Roundtable: Ringleader of the Hijacking of Corporate America

CNN and Taylor Lorenz Exposed Their Motivation