For an industry that is regulated from many different angles; as sellers of food, as employers and as business operations, each legislative fix or regulatory relief can provide food retailers with real benefits and cost savings as they focus on selling quality, safe and affordable food to customers across the country.

There’s been no lack of drama this primary season. Much of the national media is focused on the federal elections in the U.S. House and Senate, but they’re missing a big part of the story – will Democrats rebuild power in the governors’ races or will Republicans keep their almost record-breaking hold?

This September, the food retail industry celebrates the fourth annual National Family Meals Month™ (NFMM). NFMM and its huge impact is trending among consumers. Eighty-four percent of shoppers who saw the NFMM campaign reported healthier behaviors as a result of the program.

When the tech bubble burst at the end of 2000, I was working as a customer business manager at Kraft Foods. The following year, we integrated Nabisco and completed an initial public offering for the company, so we were laser-focused on reinforcing the foundation for a sustainable business model. I can recall how technology was making our lives easier at work – faxes were replaced by emails, I had a cell phone, I regularly got my news online using my laptop computer and this thing called an iPod was making my morning workout routines more enjoyable. While technology was better connecting people, the ill-fated irony was that dotcoms with a business-to-consumer focus were shuttering at rapid rates all around us.