Government Relations

Feeding Hungry Americans = Priceless

When you’re in the business of feeding people, the idea of “food waste” can’t help but leave you feeling a little sick to your stomach. A lot goes into that: Wasted water, energy, and effort; and quality food ending up in landfill. From an ...

Congress Can Author a New Information Era for Consumers

The following is a transcript from Sarasin’s participation at today’s press conference with the Coalition For Safe Affordable Food stressing urgency of Senate action on national GMO labeling and costs of ...

Anticipating Big Changes to the Food Retail Industry’s Workforce

We’re thankful that Secretary Thomas Perez listened to our industry’s concerns and didn’t change the duties test at this time, as it is critical that food retail managers are able to perform essential duties and simultaneously lead by example. While ...

The Poetry of Public Policy

Love or hate my rhyme, it is still critical that you keep up to date on the legislative and regulatory actions that could impact your business. Sign-up now to start receiving FMI’s weekly GR Report newsletter and visit our webpage to learn about ...

Food Retailers Get Their Turn to Talk SNAP

It is a rare occasion on Capitol Hill when both parties agree on something. This week, we got a rare glimpse of bipartisanship at a House Agriculture Committee hearing on retailers’ perspectives on USDA’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (...

Talking Food Waste on Capitol Hill

Last week, I joined members of the Food Waste Reduction Alliance (FWRA) – representing the nation’s grocers, food manufacturers and restaurants – to brief staff from the U.S. House of Representatives on the alliance’s mission and progress to ...

Improve Your Policy Aptitude and Your Fridays: Sign-Up for FMI’s Government Relations Updates

FMI plays an important role on behalf of the industry to educate lawmakers and policymakers about the impact of certain policies on the operations of your business. We also develop compliance tools and alerts for you and your team, but your company ...

FMI Testifies on Capitol Hill About Food Prices

Andrew Harig, FMI senior director of sustainability, tax and trade, testified in front of the U.S. House of Representatives Agriculture Subcommittee on Nutrition yesterday, focusing on the issue of food prices and the consumer. He joined Jason ...

Is Your Company Prepared for a Cyber Crisis?

I spoke with Raj Bector, partner in Oliver Wyman’s Strategic IT and Operations Practice, on the importance of retailers being prepared for cyber crises and understanding how to implement effective cyber risk management. I also caught up with Hannah ...

A Sign of the Times

This week, more than 250 grocery and supermarket executives came to the nation’s capital to participate in the Food Marketing Institute and National Grocers Association and Food Industry Association Executives “Day in Washington.” The number is ...

Supermarket News Op-Ed: Common sense key ingredient for menu labeling law

From family dinners to neighborhood potlucks, food has always been at the center of such gatherings, making grocery stores an important partner in every community. The hundreds of grocers on Capitol Hill for the joint Day in Washington meeting this ...

Future of the Roberts Bill

I fear there may be some confusion regarding the vote last week on Senator Pat Roberts' bill to set up a federal, voluntary GMO labeling system. By a 48 (yes) to 49 (no) count, the bill fell short of gaining the 60 votes necessary to invoke cloture ...

April Fly-Ins Bring May Legislative Wins

FMI will be hosting its annual Day in Washington fly-in next month, and the timing to make the trip to the nation’s capital could not be better. Our industry has several important legislative initiatives this year, and nothing is more important for ...

Q and A with Jim Gerlach from BiPAC

The Honorable Jim Gerlach, president and CEO, Business-Industry Political Action Committee (BiPAC), is speaking at a joint general session at FMI’s Financial Executive/Internal Audit Conference and co-located Asset Protection Conferencewhere he’ll ...

Labels, Legislation and Limits to Both

While I thought 2015 would go down as the “year of the label,” it appears that labeling will continue to be the center of our attention for months to come. In a world of multi-channel communication, many of us question the efficaciousness of labels, ...