According to U.S Grocery Shopper Trends 2016, a majority of shoppers visit their local supermarket at least once every week, but how many shoppers stop to think about how policy decisions or elections have an impact on their weekly trips to the grocery store? The supermarket industry is heavily regulated – from the regulations in place to keep our food safe to the policies that influence how certain foods can be labeled – and with each new Congress or administration, we often see new shifts in the focus on how policy decisions influence the industry.

When it comes to recipes, countless albums on my Pinterest profile are dedicated to finding a quick family meal that everyone will love. According to the 2014 report on Retail Contributions to Health and Wellness 2014, 100 percent of the food retailers surveyed reported offering healthy recipes to shoppers, with 80 percent offering the recipes online and 59% offering them also in store.

All these factors tally up to a wholesale change in the ways we do business. Your association recognizes this quite clearly and today we made a strategic announcement about the relevancy of our events moving forward. After much deliberation and guidance from FMI’s Executive Committee, we have decided to no longer host FMI Connect 2017. As you can imagine, a decision of this magnitude was not reached easily.

As we come to the end of the 2nd National Family Meals Month™, I am convinced that encouraging family meals at home should be a year round promotion. Every September, the FMI Foundation will continue to raise awareness about the important role family meals play in our society, but I am hopeful that the movement will steadily gain momentum and we will witness families enjoining one more meal at home every week of the year.