If you find yourself waking up in the morning lamenting the weather, grieving over the top news stories of the day, and/or struggling to focus on the task at hand, you are not alone. A 2025 Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center study found that only 25% of survey respondents said they don’t have trouble with their attention span. Reasons for distraction stem from stress and anxiety (43%), followed by lack of sleep (39%) and digital devices (35%). I suggest that saturating myself in the news on a daily basis is the root of my distraction. Of course, I curate my news to fit my needs and biases, as I suspect most of us do.
There is hope for us though. A survey update from Pew Research Center, published in December, found that the number of adults who follow the news all or most of the time fell from 51% in 2016 when the survey first began to 36% in August 2025. That said, avoidance is a short-term solution.
Fortunately, for me, the work of the Organic & Natural Health Association is rooted in purpose. Purpose is long-term, requires nurturing and feeding. Healthcare policy issues are hungry for attention, finicky about change, and will consume direction from just about anyone who has an opinion. It is never boring, and it impacts everyone and everything on the planet. The interconnection of our industry issues, whether you are a retailer, consumer, supplement manufacturer, or a farmer, requires conversation. Conversation that bridges nature and science, business and policy, and ideals and action. No one person or company can certify the integrity of our natural resources, empower the consumer, or ensure a resilient future grounded in trust, transparency, and the enduring power of nature. Hence this year’s operating paradigm for Organic &Natural Health Association: The United States of Health: Building Bridges to Opportunity.
Pragmatically speaking, no one organization, company, or individual can ensure a safe, healthy future for the next generations. Systemic change requires systems engineering and the collaboration of like-minded people and entities. The tool box needs to be communal. The vision requires a wide perspective. This is why we created one particular bridge to opportunity: My Health Alliance. On any given day, it can represent 10 to 20 organizations working on behalf of millions of people. SENPA, the Alliance for Natural Health, AHPA, GrassrootsHealth, the NonGMO Project, Natural Grocers, Power UP Nursing, Beyond Pesticides, American Grassfed Association, Americans for Homeopathy Choice, Moms Across American, the Organic Consumers Association, will likely be joined by many more organizations on our second lobby day and reception on Capitol Hill. You can change the atmosphere on the Hill with a day like this, but it requires consistent tending to ensure institutional change. We know that our power is data and numbers. We also know that the world does not revolve around the U.S. Congress. There are states and territories, a supplement supply chain that circles the globe, retailers and consumers, all critical players in the quest for better healthcare and healthcare outcomes.
Our purpose to affect change comes in many shapes. It should come as no surprise that Organic & Natural Health continues to collaborate with organizations like GrassrootsHealth for implementation of research initiatives to further demonstrate the impact of vitamin D3 to reduce preterm birth, and subsequent changes in health care policy that speak to the power of vitamin D3.
Our collective list of initiatives is varied, but our overall purpose is united in the mission to improve health care outcomes by integrating these interests of our partners into the system, several of which are listed here:
- Eliminating threats to the organic standard
- Codifying regenerative in a meaningful way
- Elimination of glyphosate from the food supply chain
- Eliminating petrochemical pesticides and fertilizers
- Full transparency of synthetically derived ingredients
- Reforming school lunches
- Codifying grassfed standards for meat
- Passage of H.R.7050, (legislation to protect homeopathy), ensuring access to practitioners who provide integrative, naturopathic, and functional medical care.
In addition to this work, Organic & Natural is monitoring the development of MAHA (Make America Healthy Again) initiatives in the event there is an opportunity to affect change. Thus far, federal action has been lackluster and many of our issues rest in the Department of Agriculture where proposed reforms fall on deaf ears. More interesting is the work being done at the state level. The Make Texans Healthy Again is successfully advocating for many bipartisan issues, and affords yet another partnership opportunity. In addition, conversations are being initiated now on what modernization of DSHEA could look like. Such an effort is the perfect example of an issue that necessitates building bridges.
My last comment is directed to each and every reader of this article. When asked to join the association for your industry, do so. This is how you get to be a partner in the process. If you are an independent retailer, joining SENPA is absolutely essential. If you are a part of the dietary supplement supply chain, you should also support SENPA. Independent retailers are the soul of our industry. They are the first to feel the pain imposed by a weak economy or the passage of a poorly constructed piece of legislation. That simple act of joining is your first step to being part of the bridge to opportunity.
