Public policy for the greater good

支持Strong Organic Standards

• We’re proud of our long history of engagement to developstrong, national U.S. organic standards, and have fought to promote and protect the integrity of the standard and advance its continuous improvement.
• General Mills executive and first sustainability officer, Gene Kahn, was a founding member of theU.S. Department of Agriculture National Organic Standards Boardwhich wrote the first standards for certified organic food production in the U.S.
• We support efforts to increase U.S. organic acreage through strategic engagements and by building infrastructure for farmers, including, but not limited to applied research, extension, and education/outreach.
• General Mills engaged with trade association partners including theOrganic Trade AssociationtheInternational Dairy Foods Associationand theNorth American Milers’ Associationin advocacy supporting theNational Organic Program (NOP); Strengthening Organic Enforcementfinal rule. The final rule protects the integrity of the organic supply chain and build consumer and industry trust in the USDA organic label.
• We strongly support the National Organic Standards Board (NOSB) and the critical role it plays in the organic industry, and in 2018 our organic brands – Annie’s and Cascadian Farm – joined incallingon Congress to continue to support NOSB during its deliberations.
• Annie’s, Cascadian Farm and Muir Glen joined aletterto Congress in 2018 urging them to support funding for the Organic Agriculture Research and Extension Initiative (OREI), which seeks to solve critical organic agriculture issues, priorities, or problems through the integration of research, education, and extension activities.
• General Mills and members of the Organic Trade Association Dairy Council signed aletterto support the USDA National Organic Program (NOP) to finalize a 2015 rule, providing the organic dairy industry with consistent, clear regulation on the transition of conventional livestock to organic production and protecting the integrity of organic dairy production.

Advancing Water Stewardship

• As a global food company, water is critical to our business. We take a broad approach to water stewardship, looking beyond our company’s walls to the phases of our value chain that drive overall use.
• We also engage policy makers todrive more sustainable water practices. Examples include our membership in theCalifornia Water Action Collaborative, a platform for diverse stakeholders to come together and pursue collective action projects that will improve water security in California for people, business, agriculture and nature, andConnect the Drops, which educates California lawmakers about such efforts and advocates for policy solutions there.

Addressing Packaging and Food Waste

• General Mills promotes policies to effectively and efficiently increasepackaging recycling rates and reduce waste– you can read more about our global packaging ambitions here.
• In the United States, we are a leader inAMERIPEN– the American Institute for Packaging and the Environment – which conducts research and advocates for policy changes to achieve these goals at both the state and federal level.
• As a leading member of the Consumer Brands Association, we support their convening of theRecycling Leadership Council建立了一个公共政策框架基础ally reimagine the U.S. recycling system.
• General Mills signed the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’sAmerica Recycles Pledgeto build on our existing efforts to address the challenges facing our nation's recycling system and to identify solutions that create a more resilient materials economy and protect the environment.
• General Mills is leading in a host of multi-sector as well as industry coalitions aimed at reducing and endingfood waste and loss:
  TheFood Waste Reduction Alliance, a partnership of U.S. food manufacturers, grocery retailers and restaurants and foodservice companies.
• General Mills was named by the United States Department of Agriculture, Environmental Protection Agency and Food and Drug Administration as a2030 Food Waste and Loss Champion.
• The International Food Waste Coalition, which is developing strategies to address food waste in the E.U. and beyond.
• The nonprofit organization,ReFED(“Re-think Food Waste through Economics and Data”), which is advancing food waste prevention and surplus food recovery solutions by aligning and mobilizing cross-sector coalitions that include local, state and federal governments, nonprofit organizations, food companies, waste management companies, entrepreneurs and others.
• We are a founding partner withFeeding America- we were the leading partner in developing their logistics network andMeal Connect, an app that connects excess food to local food banks. Our partnership includes food donations, promotional marketing, and local volunteerism. To date we've been able to rescue almost two billion pounds of food.
• For more than two decades, we have supported efforts to fight food waste and hunger on college and university campuses viaThe Campus Kitchens Project,Food Recovery Network(最近),125000 + students at 230 colleges and universities in food waste reduction programs, last year alone recovering more than 3.2 million pounds of surplus food to nourish people in need.

Delivering Nutrition

Our goal is to provide a diverse portfolio of products that contribute to the well-being of consumers and meet a variety of needs. We are committed to making food with passion and putting people first by improving the variety and nutrient density of our products.

Annually, we share results on the variety and nutritional characteristics of our product portfolio. This is reported as the % of global volume that meets our internal criteria for “Nutrition-Forward.” We are proud to report that in fiscal 2020, 43% of General Mills global volume met our criteria as “Nutrition-Forward Foods.” Learn more about ourglobal health reporting.

Our marketingpoliciesensure that our child-directed advertising promotes only lower-calorie, nutrient dense products. We take particular care around the content and nature of advertising directed to children – including pre-screening of our ads by the Better Business Bureau’s Children’s Advertising Review Unit.

We actively engage in public policy discussions to advance these nutrition priorities, including the following actions:

• 支持flexibilities in USDA food and nutrition programs to ensure full benefit access to WIC, School Lunch, Breakfast and SNAP during the COVID-19 pandemic beginning in March 2020.
• In January 2022 and February 2021, General Mills partnered with hunger organizations and peer food companies in a letter to Congressional leadership expressing support for inclusion of food security and nutrition provisions in the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021. The legislation became Public Law on March 11, 2021. Access the 2022 letterhereand the 2021 letterhere.
• In August 2020, General Mills and corporate partners of No Kid Hungry joined together in a letter to USDA Secretary Perdue expressing support for USDA to continue flexibilities that are helping poverty-level children access school lunch and breakfast. As a result of this letter, advocacy from hunger partner organizations and bipartisan support from members of the U.S. House and Senate, the flexibilities were extended beyond August 2020 through June 2021. Access the letter here.
• In March 2020 a cross-functional team of General Mills employees came together to support WIC consumers and ensure they have access to the food they need during the COVID-19 pandemic. We worked to ensure that our facilities prioritized making those food that are most approved and popular among WIC participants. We also reached out to State WIC agencies to provide a list of General Mills WIC-eligible products that qualify for USDA'sWIC Food Package Substitution Waiver.
• 支持strong Dietary Guidelines for Americans (see our recommendations for consideration to the Dietary Guidelines for American Advisory Committee as they develop the report and final recommendations for the 2020-2025 DGAs in July 2019here&hereand in January 2020here).
• GMI supports voluntary sodium reduction efforts, as evidenced by our continued work and efforts within various regional sodium reduction initiatives. See our comments on Voluntary Short Term Sodium Targetshere.
• 支持the U.S. Food & Drug Administration’s efforts to reflect the newest scientific information in the definition of “healthy” (see ourletterto FDA).
• 支持strong U.S. school nutrition standards, includingencouraging USDAto balance meal program flexibility and efficiency while ensuring Dietary Guidelines recommendations are followed, especially related to whole grain-rich offerings.
• 支持the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) and WIC consumer access to a variety of fortified ready-to-eat whole grain breakfast cereals and yogurt. We identify opportunities for our nutritionists and staff to work directly with scientific communities and USDA who are charged withdeveloping recommendationsfor the “WIC Food Basket” to ensure our input is considered in their recommendations.
• General Mills and Kellogg’s annually celebrate National Cereal Day with lawmakers in Washington, DC sharing information about the nutritional benefits and affordability of ready-to-eat cereal.

Learn more about our Nutrition and Food Safety Partnerships and Collaborations

Ensuring Safe Food

Safety is a priority for our company and central to our culture. Leading with safety – both in the workplace and the food we make – is one of the key operating principles that guides our work. We invested US $13.6 million in food safety in fiscal 2020; equal to 9.25% of our total essential supply chain capital investment for the year. Read more our food safety approach here.

We have a long history infood safetyleadership. More than 50 years ago, developed theHazard Analysis and Critical Control Points (HACCP) processwith NASA for ensuring food safety. The HACCP approach identifies key stages in production where food safety risks can be minimized or eliminated. Today, HACCP has become the food industry’s gold standard and the backbone of many countries’ food safety regulations around the world.

Food safety leadership is a differentiator for General Mills, but not an area of competition. We freely share our best practices, emerging areas of concern and collaborate with industry peers and regulators to help raise standards industrywide.

We actively engage in public policy discussions to ensure safe food, including the following actions:

• We strongly support the Food Safety Modernization Act (FSMA), the largest revamp of U.S. food safety laws in decades, and its goal of raising up food safety standards across the food value chain. We supported the originating legislation for FSMA and theregulationsfor its implementation, and have consistently called on Congress to continue adequate funding for FSMA implementation.

Increasing Food Security and Strengthening Communities

General Mills works to ensure all members of a community have access to nutritious and sufficient food through strategic initiatives, grants, food donations and knowledge sharing.

• The General Mills Foundation has donated $2.5 billion to charitable causes since 1954.
• In fiscal 2020, General Mills contributed more than $92 million in charitable giving worldwide.
• In 2020 our philanthropic partners and food donations enabled nearly 7 billion meals worldwide.
• We recently partnered with the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics Foundation to publish thePrioritizing Food Security Solutions toolkitand the Alliance to End Hunger to publish aSelf-Assessment Workbook for the Hunger Free Communities Networkto help local communities identify and address the own unique needs and assets to tackle food insecurity.
• 雷竞技官网pioneered食品过敏原标识在1990年代,和leadership continues today. We voluntarily included sesame as a labeled allergen and supported industry efforts to advance the FASTER Act, which will lead to sesame being labeled as an allergen in the US. Learn more about allergen labelinghere.

To learn more about our focus areas and our partners, please visit the OurCommunity Sectionof the Global Responsibility Report.

We also actively engage in public policy discussions to increase food security and strengthen communities, including the following actions:

Increasing Food Security

• At the federal level, we are a longtime supporter of TheCongressional Hunger Centerand its Emerson Hunger Fellowship Program which works to make issues of domestic and international hunger a priority to policymakers in the U.S. government, and to raise a new generation of leaders to fight against hunger and poverty.
• General Mills is proud to have received the2018 Corporate Partner Hunger Leadership Awardfrom The Congressional Hunger Center, for centering food security, sustainable agriculture, and strengthening hometown communities in our philanthropic strategy.
• We work with several initiatives to advance public policy at the state level that would increase food security, including:
• Partnering withShare Our Strength, which leads the No Kid Hungry campaign and helps coordinate efforts to expand food access. We’ve weighed in to support such legislation in states like New York (hereandhere),MarylandandTennessee.
• General Mills is a leading member of theHealthy Hunger Free Schoolscoalition advocating for free meals for all students to address hunger.
• Supported No Kid Hungry'sworkto obtain and expandUSDA Child Nutrition Waiversto help K-12 students access school meals during COVID-19.
• 支持theFood Research & Action Center(FRAC), which aid public policy efforts to expand food access by developing timely research and statistics that demonstrate the impact of hunger in every community.
• Founding member of theHunger Partnership of the National Conference of State Legislatures(NCSL), which brings together state legislators from around the U.S.
• 支持和授权人
• At General Mills, we put people first. We advocate for inclusive public policies and add our voice to help lead change.
• General Mills advocates for racial equity, focusing on our headquarters community of Minneapolis. General Millscondemned乔治·弗洛伊德的杀戮,犯下英里s from our headquarters. In coalition, we swiftly called on the MN State Legislature to enact reforms aimed at preventing unacceptable police behavior and holding perpetrators accountable. We led the creation of theMinnesota Business Coalition for Racial Equity, a group of companies who have come together to do more, to do things differently, and to create a better future with and for Black Minnesotans – a new approach based on the partnership between business and the community. The Coalition is focused on driving action on public policy, the workplace, philanthropy, and allyship. We recognize that there will be much more work to be done in the years to come and are clear in ourcommitment to remain engaged, and have made specific commitments to advance racial equity in education, food access and representation.
• General Mills supportsinclusive U.S. immigration policy. We are a member of theNew American Economy,a coalition of diverse business leaders who support immigration reforms that will help create jobs for Americans today. And we stood up and called on Congress to immediately pass the bipartisanDream Actor legislation that provides Dreamers raised in our country the permanent solution they deserve.
• General Mills supportsinclusive LGBT public policy. We are a long-standing leader in theHRC Corporate Equality Index, which includes public policy engagement as a key measure. We proudly lobbied to pass theRespect for Marriage Act. We are strong supporters of theEquality Act, and submitted a statement for the congressional record. General Mills executives publicly testified before the U.S. Congress – in2007and2012for predecessor measures to show our support. We joined the business brief to the U.S. Supreme Court supportingmarriage equality, and we were the largest company opposing an amendment to the constitution in our home state that would have blocked marriage equality.
• General Mills has a long history of supporting employees’ civic engagement. We built an internal voter information center for employees to give them the resources to make their voice heard in their community. We continually host informational webinars to educate and discuss elections and other civic issues.
• Strengthening our Communities
• In addition to our philanthropic support for our hometown communities, we also develop important community partnerships that drive economic growth and increase connectedness. For example, we played a catalyst role in our hometown in the formation of both Greater MSP – the Minneapolis St. Paul Regional Economic Development Partnership, andMBOLD, which mobilizes Minnesota's globally leading concentration of food and agriculture leadership to develop practical solutions to global challenges facing the food and agriculture sectors.
• General Mills responded to a request from the State of Minnesota to help residents struggling to afford nutritious food during the COVID-19 pandemic. Working with the state we developed a digital marketing platform for the campaign,www.mnfoodhelper.org, to bring awareness for SNAP. The announcement can be foundhere.

Informing Consumers and Increasing Awareness

We are committed to increasing transparency and helping you understand what's in your food. That's why we’re are putting more information in more places, including the following initiatives:

• AskGeneralMills.com: Get answers about our food.
• SmartLabel™: Offers U.S. product information in a consistent, easy-to-access digital format.
• Non-GMO Project Verified: A non-profit listing third-party verified non-GMO food and products.
• Bioengineered Disclosure: We disclose the presence of bioengineered ingredients (GMOs) on our U.S. packages under the National Bioengineered Food Disclosure Standard for FDA and USDA regulated products. All our applicable product labels are in compliance with the standard. We have also voluntarily labeled all products that contain highly refined BE ingredients.

We also actively support public policy efforts to inform our consumers and increase their awareness about our products. For example, we are active members of several organizations that provided comments to the USDA requesting that more information about bioengineered ingredients be made available to consumers, not less. We strongly support this.