Female leaders from many of FMI's member companies have received the recognition of Top Women in Grocery this year. I salute all of them. I’m especially honored to celebrate two of my exceptional colleagues who were honored this week at the Top Women in Grocery awards program -- Jennifer Hatcher, chief public policy officer & senior vice president of government relations, and Hilary Thesmar, PhD, RD, CFS, chief food and product safety officer & vice president, food safety program. These two outstanding members of the FMI team were recognized for their outstanding contributions to the progress of our industry.

We’re in the midst of one of the longest periods of food price deflation in more than 50 years. USDA reports that the consumer price index has been negative on a year-over-year basis since December 2015, causing severe pressure on same-store sales growth. Retail beef prices have declined in some areas by nearly 8 percent, with pork and poultry on a similar (but slightly less steep) downward trend. USDA predicts we could see up to a 19 percent decline in the CPI for eggs in 2016, and the dairy sector is in dire enough straits that USDA Secretary Tom Vilsack has authorized two rounds of government purchases of surplus cheese. It doesn’t look like this trend is likely to let up in the near future.

The 2016 Election is over, and while the world is still discussing and speculating what the results of the 2016 U.S. presidential election will mean, state ballot outcomes can give us an idea for possible trends looking ahead.

The truth is that uplifting stories of good deserve more than a 30 second news segment. That’s why FMI developed the Community Outreach Awards, to showcase the good that grocery stores across the country are doing in local communities. From neighborhood improvement programs to youth development and hunger relief programs, the stories of grocery stores contributing to the communities they service are true examples of feel-good stories. In reading through our 14 nominations this year, one thing is clear—the good grocery stores do makes a long-lasting impact on the people in their communities and that is a story to proudly share.