FMI Honors USDA Official Andrea Gold with Consumer Service Award

Food Marketing Institute (FMI) presented its 2018 Esther Peterson Award for Consumer Service to Andrea Gold, Director of the retailer policy and management division, Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), at United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Food and Nutrition Service (FNS). The presentation was made at FMI’s State Issues Retreat, an annual conference that brings together food retail grocery associations and grocery company government relations professionals from each state to discuss state and local legislative and regulatory issues of interest to the food industry.

For more than two decades, Gold has been an indispensable resource in helping the food retail industry serve its SNAP consumers, especially in times of emergency or natural disaster.As part of the National Response Framework, Gold helps the retail food industry provide SNAP nutrition assistance to those most affected by a crisis through USDA’s FNS.

President and CEO of FMI Leslie G. Sarasin said, “Andrea is literally the calm in a storm and a source of order in the midst of chaos. When confronted with a crisis, she and her team work with speed and efficiency to provide sustenance to victims of a natural disaster when they find themselves suddenly, and often critically, in need of the very basics of food and water. Andrea remains a front-line resource to states and food retailers when a Disaster Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (D-SNAP) and related options are in place and we’re grateful for her leadership.”

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“In the spirit of award namesake Esther Peterson, Gold is devoted to finding solutions to critical SNAP customer issues, serving grocery customers whenever a need arises – often after hours and on weekends,” said Jennifer Hatcher, Chief Public Policy Officer, Senior Vice President, Government Relations, FMI. She strives to make the program more efficient for food retailers and create a seamless payment experience for the grocery shopper.”

Gold began her career at FNS as a front-line staffer in the New York City Field Office, charged primarily with the licensing and monitoring of stores participating in the food assistance program. She later served as the retailer Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) liaison in the Northeast Region, and then as assistant director of field operations. She joined the national office in 2004 as the chief of retailer management. Since 2010, Gold has been the director of the SNAP Retailer Policy and Management Division. She oversees both retailer and issuance policy and manages systems that allow SNAP to license and monitor more than 260,000 participating firms.