Congratulations, Vitamin Angels! The organization is gearing up to mark its 30th anniversary at Natural Products Expo West, and industry members are invited to register to join Founder & President Howard Schiffer and the Vitamin Angels team on March 13, 2024, in Anaheim, California, to commemorate 30 years of improving nutrition for mothers and children around the world. “Come with us as we head towards our boldest destination yet: a world without malnutrition,” Vitamin Angels said in its announcement of the celebration. “You can help make it possible, just by joining us.” The event’s title sponsor, Nordic Naturals, is donating money to Vitamin Angels for each attendee, up to $100,000 in total, helping Vitamin Angels reach 1,000 women and children with life-changing vitamins and minerals.
Vitamin Angels was founded in 1994 by Howard Schiffer, a midwife and natural products industry professional. The non-profit organization works to improve the nutrition of pregnant women and young children and infants in underserved communities, and offers nutrition counseling programs to mothers, including:
- Exclusive breastfeeding for the first six months
- Nutrient-rich complementary foods while breastfeeding up to two years of age
- Training and resources to community program partners on maternal health and feeding practices for infants and young children
- Prenatal vitamins and minerals
WholeFoods Magazine’s Marissa Fox connected with Schiffer, who was honored in 2021 as WholeFoods Person of the Year, to learn more.
Fox: Congratulations! Can you tell us about the origin of Vitamin Angels?
Schiffer: The seed for Vitamin Angels was planted in 1980 when I got blood poisoning and was in a coma for 10 days. I came out of that realizing how short life could be and that I wanted to do something “great” with my life. That opportunity arose in January 1994, after the Northridge earthquake. The vitamin company I was an owner of got a call from a relief organization that was providing help for the farm workers whose homes had been destroyed. They were afraid of an epidemic breaking out and needed vitamins for the children. I later learned that most relief groups did not have a constant high-quality supply of vitamins, and from there Vitamin Angels was born.
Fox: What are you most proud when it comes to Vitamin Angels?
Schiffer: I'm proud that we are reaching the women and children in the most resource deprived areas of the world at the most vulnerable time in their lives. I'm proud that our organization is helping to lead the global effort for the acceptance of multiple micronutrient supplements (MMS), also known as prenatal vitamins and minerals, as the official global recommendation for pregnancy because I've seen the data and know how many lives MMS can positively impact. And I'm proud that we have found a way to connect people and businesses with the greatest resources to people with the fewest resources to give underserved women, infants, and children a chance for a healthy and productive life.
Fox: What separates Vitamin Angels from other organizations—what has made the organization stand out throughout the years?
Schiffer: The three critical things that differentiate Vitamin Angels are: (1) We solely focus on evidence-based nutrition interventions that have been scientifically researched and shown to have a tremendous positive impact on women, infants, and children; (2) We use a fundraising model that connects private enterprise with public health initiatives to solve some of world's greatest health challenges; (3) We use implementation science to design programs that remove barriers to accessing essential nutrients and we build sustainable programs to ensure long-term and ongoing success.”
Fox: Service and collaboration seem to be a focal point for Vitamin Angels and at the forefront of its initiatives. Can you speak to this?
Schiffer: Service is in Vitamin Angels DNA; it's why we exist, to serve the women, infants and children who are most in need. When working in public health, you quickly learn that the keys to success are scalability and sustainability. When a program is scalable it can grow from the village level to the state to the national and eventually to the global level. And when a program is sustainable it can have long-term and ongoing impact. Collaboration is the key to both scalability and sustainability succeeding. We cannot do this work alone. We know that for our nutrition programs to be truly effective, to reach millions, and to have a global impact, we must collaborate with other organizations within both the public and private sectors.”
Fox: Is there anything else you’d like to share?
Schiffer: The natural products industry was built on health and good nutrition. It’s the core part of our origin story. Vitamin Angels’ work is the proof point that good nutrition is essential to building healthy futures and vibrant societies. Good nutrition is foundational to children reaching their full structural and cognitive capacity. Good nutrition means children can do better in school and lead more productive lives. Good nutrition is the essential starting point for a lifetime of possibilities. And Vitamin Angels is bringing that good nutrition to millions women, infants, and children in every state in the United States and in sixty-five countries around the world. Join us! WF
