ARLINGTON, VA – December 13, 2010 – Today President Obama signed into law the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. The Food Marketing Institute (FMI) issued the following statement from President and Chief Executive Officer Leslie G. Sarasin:

“We commend President Obama for signing into law The Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act which will help ensure our nation's children have access to healthy nutritious foods at schools and at home.

It also contains important policy changes that lay the groundwork for the modernization of the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program, a long-standing initiative that helps provide healthy, nutritious foods to more than 9 million women and children every year. Modernizing the WIC program to make it compatible with electronic benefits transfer (EBT) technology will increase the efficiency of the program for both WIC-eligible mothers and grocers, reduce the stigma associated with presenting a paper coupon for payment and allow participants greater purchasing flexibility. This is a great step forward for the WIC program.”