Source: LOHAS Weekly Newsletter
Published: Thursday, November 01, 2001

WASHINGTON—Eight-year-old advocacy group Citizens For Health (CFH) has broadened its focus, revamped its organizational structure and in October opened a new headquarters office in the nation’s capital.

Lauded for its efforts in stimulating consumer letters to Congress during the effort to pass the landmark Dietary Supplement Health and Education Act (DSHEA) in 1994, the new CFH will not only advocate for supplements industry causes but will broaden its focus to include complementary medicine—“the best of things we already know and the best of things we are discovering,” says Washington attorney Jim Turner, longtime chairman of CFH’s board.

It’s no secret in industry circles that CFH had been struggling at the low end of its budgetary cycle since the supplements sector began its seemingly interminable downturn. The reorganization is an effort to change that. Previously dependent primarily on corporate contributions from the supplements industry, CFH now will attempt to create a mass-based consumer and retail-outlet membership base in addition to its corporate membership, Turner says.

“We plan to create CFH health-action centers in each congressional district, sponsored by a natural or health foods store, a community pharmacy, or an alternative medicine practitioner,” he says.

Under the new plan, retailers will sponsor the action centers and become retail members of CFH. The expectation is that each retailer will bring to CHF between 15 and 30 members.

Individual memberships will cost $35 a year; the cost of retail and corporate memberships is still under negotiation.

Moving CFH’s headquarters from its most recent location in Boulder, Colo., to Washington was a consensus decision on the part of CFH’s board to be where the legislative action is. “Citizens For Health is becoming more and more involved in the daily activity of public policy,” Turner says, “This [move] puts us closer to policy efforts.”

CFH also has named a new executive director, Ken Hakuta, to spearhead the reorganization.

“I’m really just here on an interim basis,” Hakuta, former CEO of Allherbs.com, says. “I’m here to support Jim [Turner’s] vision of what CFH should do. I’m taking the thoughts of Jim and the other board members and trying to funnel consumer sentiment to Congress.”

Hakuta takes over from board member Sandi Cutler, former director of planning at Bastyr University in Kenmore, Wash., who oversaw the operations and finances of the group after the departure of former Executive Director Susan Haeger.

What CFH should do, according to Hakuta, is function as a bridge from consumers to government. He says he took the top job at CHF, which he is executing pro bono, because he believes in the vision. “I’m a true believer,” he says. “I like to get passionate about certain causes, and herbs is one of them.”

Hakuta says his first goal as executive director is to put CFH on a solid financial footing. Historically, the organization has received substantial funding during regulatory crisis times in the industry, most recently during FDA’s attempt to change the definition of disease, which would have unreasonably, according to industry members, restricted health claims that could be stated on supplements labels. CFH was a co-plaintiff in the Pearson vs. Shalala lawsuit, which resulted in a victory on the labeling issue for supplements industry interests. It also successfully lobbied along with the Greenfield, Mass.-based Organic Trade Association and Sustain, a Chicago-based advocacy group, to return the first proposed USDA organic standards rule back to the agency for revisions more in line with organics industry standards.

But when industry calls to action are lean, budgets shrink. And managing those budget flows has been a continuing problem, according to Turner. “Right now we’re hanging in there at the low end of the budgetary cycle,” he says.

Turner says CFH is receiving strong initial support for its reorganization efforts from all three sectors it’s targeting: retailers, consumers and corporations. “We did a mailing to former members and got a 33 percent return. We think we’ll get something closer to 50 percent rejoining Citizens,” he says.

Currently, the organization has funding for the next six months.