WIConnect!

Better Foods . . .Clear Messages . . .Healthy Outcomes!

WIConnect is a new campaign designed to implement the WIC food package changes in a strategic and coordinated fashion. The campaign will inspire and train frontline WIC staff, inform and work with our external WIC partners, and coordinate and standardize our messaging and nutrition education as the new, healthier foods are added to the packages.

WIConnect will optimize the rollout of new WIC foods by strategically “connecting the dots,” ensuring that, as the New Foods are rolled out, they are consistently accompanied by Clear Messages to participants and other WIC partners. We will find creative and cost-effective ways to document Healthy Outcomes – the positive public health impacts brought about by improved WIC foods - and share the good news with political decisionmakers.

Better Foods…

Complete details should be revealed by the end of the year when the Final Interim Rule is published in the Federal Register. Based on the original USDA proposal, we can begin framing our planning and educational approaches to the key changes to WIC Foods. These include five components:

• Lower the Fat
• Eat More Fruits & Vegetables
• Increase Whole Grains & Fiber
• Drink Less Sweetened Beverages
• Babies are Meant to be Breastfed!

Clear Messages…

WIConnect will maximize each food package change with a carefully researched and planned rollout strategy. Partnering this summer with local agencies, the State WIC Program surveyed WIC family food consumption and preferences, using an easy new survey tool. This data will inform food package decision making as well as the design of nutrition education materials. WIConnect will help frontline staff “connect the dots” between what they say to each WIC participant, and what participants buy with their WIC checks, in three major ways:

1. Coordinated and Consistent Messages - User ready kits and colorful promotions.
2. Leverage WIC Partners - Engaging all partners to maximize change.
3. Maximize the Ripple Effect - Coordinate with other programs and campaigns.

…Healthy Outcomes!

In order to do a better job in setting and achieving measurable public health improvements, it will be critical to carefully document and publicly celebrate our success in achieving positive and measurable outcomes among our large and high-risk population. The new WIC food packages give us the opportunity to shine in new ways!

Stay Tuned…CWA will keep YOU connected to WIConnect …The Shape of Things to Come!

Downloads

• The Shape of Things to Come: WIConnect!
• Letter from Linnea
• WIC Participant Food Shopping & Consumption Habits Survey Presentation
• WIC Participant Food Shopping & Consumption Habits Survey
• Original USDA proposal
• USDA Proposed WIC Foods(CA) for Pregnant Women   Front   Back
• USDA Proposed WIC Foods(CA) for Breastfeeding Women   Front   Back
• USDA Proposed WIC Foods(CA) for Children   Front   Back