<p>By: David Fikes, Executive Director, FMI Foundation</p><p><img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/nfmm-blog-april-24.tmb-large-350-.png?Culture=en&sfvrsn=63817be2_1" style="float:right;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px;margin-left:15px;" class="-align-right" alt="NFMM cake" sf-size="161447" />September is Family Meals Month – that special 30-day period when FMI invites you to incentivize your shoppers to enjoy the glorious nutritional, emotional and mental health benefits of sharing mealtime with their loved ones. That means if you start now, you have four and half months to get your Family Meals Month activation plan in order. </p><h5>Top 10 Reasons to Start Planning Now:</h5><ol reversed="" style="font-weight:bold;"><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">2024 will be the 10-year celebration of Family Meals Month and you’ll want to be a part of the action as we hit double digits.</span> </li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">Early planning is the most effective way to prevent the FOMO you would feel in September when everyone else is enjoying Family Meals Month.</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">Your family will take it personally and dial back on your birthday presents if your company is not heavily involved in celebrating family meals month. </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">If you start now, you can snag all the great activation ideas before your competitors hear about them.</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">Recall that feeling last August when you were in the thick of family meals month planning and you thought, “Gosh, I wish we’d thought of this sooner, with more time this could be really cool,” you don’t want to repeat that scenario.</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">More than 90% of shoppers say they want to have more family meals, according to a June 2023 Family Meals Barometer survey, so why not gain some positive points with your shoppers by inspiring and helping them accomplish what they already know is a good thing to do.</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">Remember the feeling as a kid how time during the school year expanded, while summer break months appeared to collapse, lasting all of a week and half? The truncation of time during the summer doesn’t get any better with age. Spring is the best time to plan for the fall. </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">The cultural definition of family has expanded to include the kin we choose as well as those to whom we are blood related, which create all kinds of new family meal possibilities to explore and encourage. </span></li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">Encouraging and facilitating deeper youth involvement in meal preparation is a great idea, but these seemingly spontaneous activations require careful planning and thorough preparation to be successful. Plant the seeds now if you want a September bloom.</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-weight:normal;">With end of school activities, followed by summer vacation plans, weekend getaways and summer camp schedules, followed by the flurry of back-to-school preparations, September will arrive sooner than you think. It’s wise to start taking action now!</span></li></ol><p>If you need assistance with <a href="https://www.fmi.org/family-meals/toolkits" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">planning</a> your family meals activation, <a href="https://www.fmi.org/family-meals/Partners" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">exploring a partnership</a> or learning about how other companies have <a href="https://www.fmi.org/family-meals/award" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">celebrated family meals</a>, feel free to contact us at <a href="mailto:FamilyMealsMonth@fmi.org" rel="noreferrer noopener" target="_blank">FamilyMealsMonth@fmi.org</a> </p><p><a href="mailto:familymealsmonth@fmi.org" class="button" target="_blank">Contact the Family Meals team</a></p>
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