Washington, DC– Exhibitors at the Annual Meat Conference , co-hosted by FMI, The Food Industry Association and the North American Meat Institute (Meat Institute), following the event in Dallas, Texas, donated meat and poultry products to The North Texas Food Bank, a nonprofit devoted to closing the hunger gap in North Texas. The donation will provide more than 6,930 meals. 

"Members of the Meat Institute are continuing a long tradition of giving back to their communities and are glad to be able to support the people of North Texas with this donation of meat and poultry products,” said NAMI President and CEO Julie Anna Potts. “It is part of our members’ commitment in the Protein PACT to help measure and close the protein gap by 2025. According to Feeding America, meat is one of the top three most needed foods for food charities.”

“We continue to support the industry’s work of increasing donations to food banks and other organizations that nourish neighborhoods, which is aligned with stated objectives to the White House Conference on Nutrition and Health to donate two billion meals in 2023,” FMI President and CEO Leslie G. Sarasin said. “On behalf of the Annual Meat Conference community, we are proud to make a hunger-mitigating donation of nearly 7,000 protein-enriched meals to the North Texas Food Bank following our Dallas event.”

“We’ve seen a 15% increase in need here in North Texas since last year—and it continues to grow with inflation and governmental cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program,” said Roderick Ruth, Manager of Food Donations for the North Texas Food Bank. “Meat proteins are some of the most sought-after items in our feeding network, so we are very grateful to work with the North American Meat Institute and FMI at this year’s Annual Meat Conference. Through this partnership, we were able to rescue 6,930 meals for our hungry neighbors in our 13-county service area.”

Continuing its close partnership with the Meat Institute in hosting the Annual Meat Conference, FMI is also a key endorser of the Protein PACT.

In 2022, Meat Institute members made more than $9 million in food security donations, including to build and expand infrastructure to safely store and package fresh meat. An index of Meat Institute members’ efforts to end hunger is available here . 

About the Protein PACT: The Protein PACT unites partners across animal protein in the first-ever joint effort to accelerate the entire animal protein sector’s progress toward global sustainable development goals for healthy people, healthy animals, healthy communities, and a healthy environment. Protein PACT partners are establishing transparent baselines and benchmarks for our efforts, setting ambitious targets for continuous improvement, collecting data to verify and transparently report on progress, and launching comprehensive communications about animal protein’s unique place in sustainable, healthy diets. To learn more, visit www.TheProteinPACT.org. 

About North American Meat Institute: The Meat Institute is the United States’ oldest and largest trade association representing packers and processors of beef, pork, lamb, veal, turkey, and processed meat products. NAMI members include over 350 meat packing and processing companies, the majority of which have fewer than 100 employees, and account for over 95 percent of the United States’ output of meat and 70 percent of turkey production.

About FMI—The Food Industry Association: 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. For more information, visit: www.FMI.org.