On February 10–11 in Scottsdale, Arizona, leaders with ANH’s Corporate Leadership Circle from across the natural health movement gathered with ANH’s Rob Verkerk, Jonathan Emord, and other members of ANH’s board for a focused, high-level strategy session: how to turn momentum into measurable change—and what’s really needed to make MAHA happen.
The message was clear: the time for cautious probing is over. We cannot rely on RFK Jr. to deliver top-down reforms that enhance consumer freedom. While he needs our help to drive change–we shouldn’t be looking to Secretary Kennedy as the savior of the health of the American people. Ultimately making MAHA happen is down to what we the people decide to do, ensuring that the providers of the goods and services we need for our health don’t encounter unnecessary barriers. In short, government should facilitate, but not interfere. Right now, even under RFK Jr.’s leadership of HHS, there’s still a lot of interference, and not much facilitation.
From Fragmentation to Focus
Participants acknowledged a hard truth. Competing priorities and scattered efforts have resulted in a dissipation of the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) energy that brought RFK Jr. into his current role as HHS Secretary. The broader MAHA movement now risks splintering into silos and becoming impotent.
The reality is that RFK Jr. has limited power to deliver change. ANH-USA plans to meet this challenge head on, bringing the wellness community together around shared principles and a commitment to freedom of informed choice.
Using the Constitution as a Hammer
Unlike traditional trade associations that often seek to work with, rather than against, regulatory agencies that limit our freedom, ANH as a non-profit that supports the interests of health-conscious consumers, medical and other health practitioners, as well as companies that deliver products and services in the integrative and wellness space, we’ve been left with no option but to use litigation to drive change—challenging unconstitutional restraints on truthful health speech and regulatory overreach.
When government agencies act as preemptive “ministries of truth,” blocking truthful and non-misleading health claims about the benefits of food and supplements at the point of sale, they exceed their constitutional authority. Court challenges not only advance freedom—they galvanize grassroots support and reshape the narrative.
Rapid Response. Relentless Pressure.
The meeting produced immediate action.
A new rapid response initiative is underway—leveraging social media, artificial intelligence, and coordinated communications to counter misinformation and regulatory overreach in real time.
When a 60 Minutes segment discussed GRAS reform (see this week’s companion piece) just days after the meeting, ANH responded immediately with a public statement and a detailed press release.
Participants also emphasized the need to expose misuse of definitions, double standards in evidence requirements, and bureaucratic obstruction—using compelling storytelling and data-driven arguments that resonate beyond the natural health community.
Rewriting the Regulatory Landscape
Key priorities in the coming year include:
- Expanding patient access to integrative treatments through an expanded Right to Try Act
- Modernizing statutory definitions of “food” and “drug”, as well as sub-categories of these definitions, that prevent us from using food as medicine.
- Promoting wider insurance coverage of integrative modalities.
- Advancing therapeutic and preventive nutrition as a frontline strategy for chronic disease.
- Elevating naturopathic medicine and clinical autonomy.
Participants underscored the urgency of addressing chronic disease at its root—environmental exposures, ultraprocessed diets, and metabolic dysfunction—rather than perpetually managing symptoms at escalating cost.
Prevention, personalization, and patient choice must replace bureaucratic gatekeeping
The Arizona Statement: A Beginning, Not an End
The gathering concluded with plans for a series of public-facing statements beginning with therapeutic nutrition and expanding across the full spectrum of natural health. These statements will articulate a bold, unified vision—one that connects constitutional freedoms, scientific integrity, economic sustainability, and patient empowerment.
The Scottsdale meeting marked a turning point. ANH is building the legal, strategic, and grassroots infrastructure to secure freedom of choice for all Americans.
The work ahead is ambitious. But so is the opportunity.
Stay tuned, and please join is in the fight for liberty and common sense in health.
Companies interested in joining our Corporate Leadership Circle can follow this link to learn more.
