Tufts University’s Task Force on Hunger, Nutrition and Health released a comprehensive report including recommendations for the Biden administration to consider in addressing food and nutrition insecurity as part of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition and Health process.
Representing the food industry, Leslie G. Sarasin, FMI president and CEO, is a member of the task force and provided input in the development of the report.
“FMI is honored to have been a part of this collaborative process that included many hunger and nutrition stakeholders coming together to produce a report that offers recommendations to the White House on ways to improve food access and address diet-related diseases,” Sarasin said.
“As the voice of the food industry, it was of paramount importance that FMI have a seat at the table with the Tufts Task Force and I believe providing our perspective on practical recommendations can help significantly to move the needle on food and nutrition insecurity.”
Sarasin continued, “In particular, FMI supports efforts to expand federal feeding programs, such as increasing the eligibility for children under the Women, Infants and Children program by one year to ensure they receive benefits up until the time they start school, making the summer EBT program permanent so that children have access to food year-round, and including food industry registered nutritionist dietitians in SNAP education. We also welcome the recommendations to develop ‘Food is Medicine’ programs in a robust, transparent and scalable way as well as enhancing food recovery and donation efforts from farm to fork with tax incentives and liability protections.”
Sarasin concluded, “Even as we look ahead to the White House Conference this fall and beyond, FMI is committed to continuing to work with our industry partners and the hunger and nutrition communities to ensure we make measurable, meaningful progress on reducing food and nutrition insecurity by providing families with the products and solutions they need to remain healthy and nourished.”
As the food industry association, FMI works with and on behalf of the entire industry to advance a safer, healthier and more efficient consumer food supply chain. FMI brings together a wide range of members across the value chain — from retailers that sell to consumers, to producers that supply food and other products, as well as the wide variety of companies providing critical services — to amplify the collective work of the industry.
To read the full report, click here.
