FMI Applauds Passage of Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010

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.”

About FMI

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. www.FMI.org