Over the past month, local WIC staff from all over California engaged participants and other WIC allies in an amazing grassroots campaign. The WE NEED WIC campaign has given WIC participants a chance to have their say, and they have responded! Thousands of them have written heartfelt messages on paper plates, which are streaming into our office daily. Over 40,000 plates have already been collected!  In addition, many individuals recorded their personal stories on video, which are posted on our YouTube site.

Last week at our Fall Management Conference, some folks were wondering why we held our meeting in Bakersfield, instead of the usual locales. Aside from very affordable room rates, there are many good reasons why this southern hub of the Central Valley is a very appropriate place for WIC people to gather.

For one thing, it’s worth remembering that the fast-growing San Joaquin Valley is home to almost 7 million people and close to 350,000 WIC participants – about a quarter of our total caseload. WIC families who live in the Valley face some of the toughest barriers to good health in the state: much higher concentrations of poverty and unemployment, low-wage seasonal agricultural work, inadequate healthcare and housing, lack of play space, food deserts, and poor air quality.