Festival Foods has family at its core, so of course we do all we can to encourage families to stay strong with family meals.

We’re thrilled to share that we won 2021’s Family Meals Month competition, sponsored by the FMI Foundation! The Gold Plate Award recognizes outstanding programs that food retailers and suppliers have implemented to encourage families to share more meals at home more often. 

Our 2021 campaign focused on helping families across the state of Wisconsin accomplish family meals through Festival Foods’ Food for Neighbors program, which collects donations to provide food and supplies to approximately 40 food pantries across Wisconsin. The Festival Foods Mealtime Mentors and several of our vendor partners – including Family Meals Month Presenting Sponsors Coca-Cola, Chobani, Crystal Farms, Primal Kitchen and Silk – encouraged contributions and hosted free, live virtual cooking classes throughout the month featuring easy, tasty family meals. These classes, which initially had 200 registrants with over 500 views, are available for viewing on our Virtual Cooking Class site.

The combined efforts of Festival Foods, our vendor partners and guests resulted in a donation of over $40,000 to Food for Neighbors, which will help local food pantries stock their shelves with items they most need. Festival Foods also donated over $720,000 worth of various food items to local food pantries across the state throughout the month.

“We appreciate the partnership of our guests and vendors in supporting meals for families across the state of Wisconsin during Family Meals Month this year,” said Casey Wing, registered dietitian and digital content specialist for Festival Foods. “These efforts will make a big impact for our local food pantries, and we hope to see them continue into the future.”

Learn more about how to support Festival Foods Food for Neighbors at festfoods.com/community.