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Meeting Requirements and Standards


The bylaws of Food Addicts in Recovery Anonymous, Inc., require that each FA meeting register with an FA intergroup and comply with applicable provisions of FA World Service, Inc. bylaws and the bylaws of the affiliated FA intergroup. In order to register, a meeting must agree to the FA conference-approved requirements and standards that define an FA meeting. The meeting requirements and standards are based upon a 2011 motion and the current FA conference-approved Sample FA In-Person Meeting Format. All new meetings will be asked to comply upon initial registration. All existing meetings will be asked to re-register periodically.

The Sample FA In-Person Meeting Format is in Meeting Guidelines Document 4, the Sample FA Videoconference Meeting Format is in Meeting Guidelines Document 4c, and the Sample FA Telephone Meeting Format is in Meeting Guidelines Document 4d.

Meetings that comply with the meeting requirements and standards may be registered with FA World Service, Inc. and with an FA intergroup. This process ensures uniformity of the FA meeting format. Once registered (or re-registered), all meetings must:

1. Use a meeting format that contains:

  • The Twelve Steps and the Twelve Traditions of FA
  • The Definition of Abstinence
  • The Definition of Food Addiction
  • The FA Preamble
  • How It Works
  • The Promises
  • The FA Tools of Recovery
  • Announcement of the Seventh Tradition collection
  • A break halfway through the meeting to welcome newcomers
  • Announcement identifying available sponsors
  • Announcement for greeting newcomers
  • Requirement that FA members who share must have 90 days or more of continuous abstinence in FA and must be working with an FA sponsor
  • Requirement that those with a voice and a vote at the group’s business meetings must have 90 days or more of continuous abstinence in FA, work with an FA sponsor, and regularly attend that meeting

2. Comply with the following standards:

  • All meetings meet for 90 minutes.
  • In-person meetings are held in a public facility, with chairs in rows facing the speaker.
  • Food plans may be shared between sponsor and sponsee but are not distributed at meetings.
  • Only FA conference-approved literature, and conference-recognized and WSI board-approved materials may be offered for sale, distributed, or read at an FA meeting.
  • A meeting may only elect a World Service Conference (WSC) member who regularly attends that meeting.

3. The following service positions must be filled:

  • WSI Contact
  • Meeting Contact
  • Intergroup Contact
  • Chapter Contact (if the meeting is registered with a chapter)
  • Treasurer (if the meeting has expenses)

MEETING REGISTRATION AND MEETING CHANGES

The FA World Service Board strongly suggests there be at least two members with six or more months of continuous FA abstinence, committed to regular attendance, to start a new meeting.

Registering a New Meeting: Register the new meeting by logging into your FA profile on FA’s website at www.foodaddicts.org. Click "Login" and enter your email address and password. If you do not have an FA profile, click the orange button to Create a New FA Profile. In the Register a New Meeting section in the right-hand column, select the type of meeting you are registering. Complete the form and click the box to verify that your meeting has agreed to comply with the meeting requirements and standards detailed within this document. Once the new meeting registration request is submitted, your intergroup office committee will add your meeting to the directory. 

Re-Registering a Meeting: Re-register your FA meeting by logging into your FA profile on FA’s website at www.foodaddicts.org. Click "Login" and enter your email address and password. In the Manage My Meeting section in the right-hand column, find the meeting for which you need to re-register. Click the orange button to Re-Register Now. Review and update the re-registration form and click the box to verify that your meeting has agreed to comply with the meeting requirements and standards detailed within this document. Once the re-registration request is submitted, your intergroup office committee will update any meeting changes in the directory.

Changing Meeting Information: World Service lists all registered FA meetings on the website. They must be informed of any changes related to meeting logistics (day, time, location, meeting ID, passcode, phone number) and registered service positions (names, contact information). The Meeting Contact is responsible for submitting meeting change requests. Log into your FA profile on FA’s website at www.foodaddicts.org. Click Login and enter your email address and password. In the Manage My Meeting section in the right-hand column, find the meeting for which you need to submit a meeting change request. Click the blue button to Submit Meeting Change Request. Review and update the meeting information form and click the Submit button. Once the meeting change request is submitted, your intergroup office committee will update any meeting changes in the directory.

Please allow 7 to 10 days for your Intergroup/Chapter Office to process your request. Once the request is processed, the changes will appear immediately on the FA website meeting directory. This information is also used to create the intergroup, chapter, and local printed directories. The effectiveness of FA service is dependent upon the accuracy of the meeting information. Please help us keep the FA website and directories up to date and send changes as soon as they occur. Thank you for your service.