BBQ and National Family Meals Month: A Perfect Pair

<p>By: Lucas Darnell, Director of Member Relations and Advocacy for the Eastern Region, Food Marketing Institute<br /> <img src="https://www.fmi.org/images/default-source/blog-images/bbq-and-family-meals-month.tmb-large-350-.jpg?sfvrsn=4b097f6e_1" data-displaymode="Thumbnail" alt="BBQ and Family Meals Month" title="BBQ and Family Meals Month" style="float: right; margin: 10px;" /> </p> <p>As summer draws to a close with Labor Day, there remains a few more weeks of fun in the sun in the evenings and weekends. Barbecue has been a family meal occasion since the early 1700&rsquo;s and continues to be to this day. Barbecue is an American past time, just as American as baseball and jazz.</p> <p><a href="https://www.fmi.org/family-meals">National Family Meals Month&trade;</a> is the perfect time to bring the family together for at least one more meal a week&mdash;cooked outside. Autumn is a special time for families to eat together. School has started, football season is in full swing and the weather is perfect to sit around a table outside, together and enjoy a wonderfully prepared meal. What&rsquo;s more, grocery stores will have a number of meal solutions geared toward this season of outdoor family meals. </p> <p>As the barbecue team continues to travel around and cook contests across the country, we often spend time with our &ldquo;barbecue family.&rdquo; Our local association, the <a href="https://mabbqa.com/">Mid-Atlantic BBQ Association</a>, has chosen to support <a href="https://www.fmi.org/family-meals">National Family Meals Month</a> by posting meals they prepare at contests with the hashtags <strong>#FamilyMealsMonth</strong> and <strong>#MABBQA</strong>, encouraging families to have one more meal at home per week, but also to cook that meal outside. </p> <p>We look forward to supporting <strong>#FamilyMealsMonth</strong> with barbecue throughout the month of September, and hope that you will join as well! &nbsp;</p>