By: Tom Cosgrove, Senior Manager, Program and Development, FMI Foundation

Best PracticesHave you ever felt like you missed out on the party?  If you haven’t been participating in National Family Meals Month™ in September, a growing movement in food retail, you have been missing the party! 

National Family Meals Month was created by the FMI Foundation and the food retail industry in response to the desire for families to return to the dinner table for more meals together. Retailers, suppliers, and service providers are encouraging families to enjoy one more meal per week together – breakfast, lunch, or dinner.

National Family Meals Month is about to enter its fourth year, and the party continues to grow. Currently, there are 179 companies that have celebrated in some form over the last three years, and that participant list is expected to grow in breadth and depth this year.  

The FMI Foundation has once again curated the best in class examples of how companies celebrated National Family Meals Month.  This information is all in the Best Practices and Excellence in National Family Meals Month™ Programming guide that can be browsed online or downloaded as a PDF.

In addition to the Best Practices guide, the FMI Foundation has made it easy to participate by creating turn-key and customizable assets for you to use. You can find a ton of resources on National Family Meals Month here: www.fmifamilymeals.com

The best part is that there is no fee to participate, and since most of the food retail industry is already working to help families enjoy meals together, you can repackage existing content!  The website also lists which companies have participated, and we encourage retailers and suppliers to partner to amplify each other’s messaging.

We look forward to your participation in National Family Meals Month this year and encourage you to start planning for next year NOW!