Down from the UN NCD Summit. Above, two crises to be faced in the US: the unresisted rise of Big Snack, and the President's public gorging habits

Access news story on the UN NCD Summit here
Access news story on marketing unhealthy food to children here
Access news story on CSPI's Food Day here

Several of our lead contributions this month follow the UN High Level Meeting on prevention and control of non-communicable diseases, as the summiteers descended from the heights. How high are hopes now? As told on our home page, Michael Jacobson, chairman of the Washington DC-based Center for Science in the Public Interest (middle, above) is campaigning for real food and against colossal packages of ultra-processed snack products. Plus there's a special problem in the US: successive presidents (right, above) regularly appear in public stuffing themselves with junk. Now that childhood overweight and obesity is an out-of-control pandemic, this is a horrible example. One of the many omissions of the New York meeting was absence of a clear call to restrict and where appropriate ban the advertising and marketing of energy-dense fatty, sugary or salty products to children. We will be reporting on other outcomes of the High Level Meeting also in future issues.

Our members from all over

This month's members come from Italy, Australia, Brazil (2!) Nigeria, and the Netherlands: all united in commitment to nutrition and to public health

On our home page this month and now every month, you are introduced to six members of the Association, whose profiles are added as a permanent resource and as a great way to get to know fellow professionals. Some of their stories are inspiring. This month's members (left to right) are Stefania Vezzozi, Andre Renzaho, Marly Cardoso, Olufolakemi Anjorin, Joop van Raaij, and Isabela Sattamani. A special welcome to Isabela, who is now a colleague of Fabio Gomes in our membership department, and who as from next month will be assembling our monthly groups of members and

Snake oil: a mystery solved

We would hate you to feel that all our contributions are super-serious. In his role as sleuth, our columnist Geoffrey Cannon has been investigating the origins of the 'snake-oil salesmen' legend. Yes indeed, one feature of the US Wild West were medicine men (middle, below) who made fraudulent claims for their nostrums concocted from cheap and nasty ingredients (left, below). But it turns out that oil from the right snakes does have healing power. The very first snake oil salesman in California were Chinese pharmacists, who brought with them oil from water snakes (right, below) known from time immemorial in China to protect against and effectively treat many inflammatory diseases and disorders. It's in the literature! Just fancy that!

Women generate wealth

Farmers in India, the US, and Ukraine. The fruits of the earth generate wealth. The women who do much of the world should be empowered and rewarded

Claudio Schuftan would we think be happy if we characterised an abiding theme of his monthly column as 'power to the people'. This month he writes about empowerment literally at the grass-roots, as illustrated by these pictures above of women farmers from India, the US, and the Ukraine. It is unwise, Claudio says, to wait for the benefits of capital development to 'trickle down from the top'. Better, that with support, local communities take their own future into their own hands. Better for society and for the environment, too.