If you haven't attended Lobby Day or Natural Products Day in Washington DC, I want to encourage you to consider signing up for next year. With a new administration in office and many of our congressional leaders leaving or preparing to leave office it's more important now than ever before to educate those representing our interests. To lobby is to understand that we do have a voice and we need to share it. A group sharing makes a bigger statement.

I learned that what we all pulled together with DSHEA (Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act 1994) and became the 2nd largest grass roots campaign in our nation's history! We may need to 

Below is a press release that I am sending out today and decided to share it through my blog to let you know about my trip to DC and share a great photo of the the Southeast Natural Products Association.

PRESS RELEASE, APRIL 2009

Debby Swoboda, askDebby.com, attends the 12th Annual Natural Products Day, Washington, DC

Debby Swoboda joined almost 200 industry members as they gathered on Capitol Hill to educate Members of Congress and staff about the importance of natural products in creating a healthier America.

Debby visited with aides at the two Florida Senator’s offices (Bill Nelson-D and Mel Marteniz-R) as well as Representative Tom Rooney (R-FL 16th District). A total of 180 offices, including two-thirds of freshman legislators, were visited by industry delegates.

During the visits on the Hill, Debby reminded legislators that the natural products industry is holding strong through the recession and people depend on natural products to keep them healthy and without them healthcare costs WILL go up.  Recent studies by the Lewin Group reported that dietary supplements not only improve health and quality of life, but reduce health care expenditures by billions. 
Legislators were asked to:
•    Support an update to national school nutrition standards for junk foods sold on campus that is consistent with the “Child Nutrition Promotion and School Lunch Protection Act” (S.771) and H.R. 1363).
•    Protect access to dietary supplements by opposing potential dietary supplement legislation that undermines consumers’ health choices and limits access to supplements.
•    Support food safety legislation that emphasizes good manufacturing practices, online country-of-origin information, flexible fees and continued regulation of dietary supplements as foods.
•    Make dietary supplements and other natural products part of the solution when implementing health care reform.

“All of our comments were well received from the aides as they had personal interests in our issues” noted Debby. “I learned that we do have a voice and it is our responsibility to be heard.”

Debby serves as a supplier board of director of Southeast Natural Products Association (SENPA).  The board held a two-day, long-range planning meeting while in DC. The Southeast Natural Products Association serves Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Virgin Islands and Puerto Rico.  The Association supports the growth of businesses that produce and market natural products and promote optimum health. 
 
For more information or complete details on issues visit: www.naturalproductsassoc.org

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NOTE FROM DEBBY: To obtain the contact information for your representatives simply go to my home page (www.askDebby.com) and enter your zip code into the "capitol hill" icon on the right hand side of the page. While there download this year's "Your Guide to Effective Grassroots Action" Guide that was distributed to those attending the Natural Products Day. This guide is a great tool for starting a grass-roots initiative in your community.

Until next time, here's wishing you a great day!
Debby