Key Messages for Staff

Created by the FMI Foundation, National Family Meals Month™ is a nationwide event designed to bring health advocates, grocers, and food manufacturers together in support of the benefits of family meals and underscore the role of these partnerships in helping families create and share more meals at home.

Did you know that research shows that eating meals as a family can have far-reaching health and wellness benefits to individuals and the community? Family meals have been associated with increased diet quality, better weight management, as well as improved mental health, academic performance, and more.

With a collective and coordinated message, we’re joining with grocers, retailers, and health organizations nationwide to encourage families to share one more meal at home per week; remind them that our organization is advocating for their health and well-being every day; and support them in implementing this important, healthy and enjoyable behavior.

• With a collective and coordinated message, we’re joining with grocers, retailers, and health organizations nationwide to encourage families to share one more meal at home per week; remind them that our organization is advocating for their health and well-being every day; and support them in implementing this important, healthy and enjoyable behavior.
• We already offer an assortment of resources to engage the community in healthy behaviors. Incorporating the National Family Meals Month™ messaging into our existing campaigns is the right thing to do and a seamless, turnkey effort to expand our reach.

Researchers, health experts and popular media are endorsing and promoting the lifelong benefits of family meals. (Find research and data on health benefits and impact of National Family Meals Month™ in the next section.)

• Numerous studies show that home-cooked meals nourish the spirit, brain and health of all family members.
• Family meals have been shown to have a positive impact on the nutrition status, health, and well-being of the entire family.
• Regular family meals are linked to the kinds of outcomes that we all want for our children: higher grades and self-esteem, healthier eating habits and less risky behavior.

September, back-to-school season, is the perfect time to encourage and support our audience in committing to share one more family meal at home per week.

• With the start of a new school year, parents are ready and willing to make a renewed commitment to healthy meals that nourish their kids’ bodies and brains and help them flourish.
• As families juggle their new school routines and fall activities, we want them to remember that we are invested in their health and well-being. We are positioned to be a practical support system and the ultimate family mealtime ally; connecting our community with meal solutions that fit their busy lives and address their health and lifestyle concerns.

We’re leveraging social media this September to activate our community to engage with National Family Meals Month™ and to get families interacting about enjoying mealtime together.

• We’ll share family meals-focused content in social media channels throughout September, including the National Family Meals Month™ designated hashtag, #familymealsmonth. [insert your social media handles]
• We’ll encourage our audience to raise their oven mitts and pledge to commit to one more family meal per week.

Family mealtime starts with us. Raise Your Mitt to Commit to one more meal, as a family, each week.

• We want selfies with the hashtag #familymealsmonth to go viral as we all post our “Raise a Mitt” pledge photos, mealtime pictures, favorite recipes and tips we’ve learned from [insert your campaign name] to our social media feeds.