Confidential and proprietary.Blue Cross® and Blue Shield® of Minnesota and Blue Plus® are nonprofit independent licensees of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. BECOMING A FOOD CHARTER CHAMPION Working together for a healthy food future

Confidential and proprietary. BECOME A FOOD CHARTER CHAMPION Welcome & Introductions Elements of Campaign Planning Overview of the Food Charter Action Areas Group Activity – Build Your Own Plan 2 AGENDA

Confidential and proprietary. OBJECTIVES PARTICIPANTS WILL: Become familiar with the Food Charter Learn why campaign planning and execution can increase odds of success in implementing strategies Practice campaign planning and share with others 3

Confidential and proprietary. WHY DO CAMPAIGN PLANNING? Policy, systems, and environmental change work is, by its nature, dynamic. That’s why many groups forgo PSE campaign planning. However, The truth is that planning harnesses the dynamic nature of this type of work. 4

Confidential and proprietary. PROS OF CAMPAIGN PLANNING Focus: A plan helps you to identify your goals at the beginning and keeps you on course. Recruitment: A plan can energize, and with a clear goal and tactics and strategies in place, makes it easier for a supporter to say “yes.” Retention: Supporters who are aware of the longer-term strategy are more likely to stay involved. Leveraging Strengths: Planning your activities helps you intentionally leverage your strengths to overcome your weaknesses. 5

Confidential and proprietary. PROS OF CAMPAIGN PLANNING Systematic Approach: Your plan will show how all of the pieces fit together helping you think in the short and long term. Creativity: Creating a plan provides you with an opportunity to analyze your effort from all angles, encouraging creativity and innovation. Flexibility: It may sound weird, but a campaign plan actually can increases your flexibility. If you need to go off-plan, you will have a clear view on capacity, timeline, and vulnerabilities as you change course. 6

Confidential and proprietary. ELEMENTS OF CAMPAIGN PLANNING Determine Your Goals Partners & Allies Identify the Audience (Targets) Messaging Strategies and Tactics Implement the Plan Evaluate and Adjust 7

Confidential and proprietary. DETERMINING GOALS Assess your current organizational goals. Look at the mission, values and beliefs What is most important to your organization right now? Who is most affected by that issue? Who makes decisions about the issue? What is the overall goal you want to achieve? How will you know you are achieving your goals? 8

Confidential and proprietary. WHO ARE YOUR PARTNERS Identify Key Partners & Allies What other organizations have similar goals? Can you find synergies to push the campaign and the work forward through shared resources? What shared stakeholders can you and your partners influence? Think through a health equity lens to maximize you outreach- this could bring in new connections and build more relationships to further the cause 9

Confidential and proprietary. IDENTIFY AUDIENCE Who Are Your Audience and Targets Whose knowledge, attitudes and behavior must be influenced in order to meet your goals? Who else is affected if you succeed in your goal? (Secondary audience) Are there others who can influence primary and secondary audiences? 10

Confidential and proprietary. IDENTIFY AUDIENCE Audience Background What are the characteristics of this audience? How do they spend their time? What are their demographics and background? 11

Confidential and proprietary. IDENTIFY AUDIENCE Activation Point What or who could motivate change or action? What do you know about this audience’s knowledge, attitudes and behaviors related to your issue? What are the barriers to this audience fully supporting your goal? What are the benefits for them if they do? 12

Confidential and proprietary. MESSAGE DEVELOPMENT Your messages should be closely tied to your goals, and aim to: Show the importance of the issue Put a “face” on the issue Motivate the audience to act Be culturally relevant and sensitive Be memorable 13

Confidential and proprietary. STRATEGIES AND TACTICS Strategy: The broad approaches you will take to accomplish your goal(s) (e.g., create public awareness around the need for community garden zoning). Tactic: The tools and activities that you will use to operationalize and implement strategies and ultimately accomplish goal(s) (e.g., hold town hall meetings inviting community members to engage in conversation about the need for community garden zoning). 14

Confidential and proprietary. IMPLEMENTING YOUR PLAN You can use the following steps to determine time, budget and staffing needs: List all activities Under each activity, outline the steps to completion Assign a budget estimate to each step Assign a staffing needs estimate to each step Working backwards from the activity completion point, assign a date for each step in the activity 15

Confidential and proprietary. EVALUATE AND ADJUST Specify time to check on your progress Determine strengths and weaknesses, what is working, and what isn’t? Identify barriers Tweak new approaches for success If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it 16

Confidential and proprietary. MINNESOTA FOOD CHARTER

Confidential and proprietary. FOOD SKILLS 18 FOUNDATION OF HEALTHY EATING What are Food Skills? Growing Food Planning, selecting, and budgeting for healthy food Preparing safe and healthy food from scratch Trying new foods Understanding the food system, including agriculture and cultural dimensions of food

Confidential and proprietary. FOOD AFFORDABILITY 19 ENOUGH MONEY FOR ENOUGH HEALTHY FOOD What is Food Affordability? People can buy most of the healthy foods they want with the money they have available.

Confidential and proprietary. FOOD AVAILABILITY 20 ENOUGH HEALTHY FOOD FOR ALL What is Food Availability? There are an adequate number of convenient food sources, offering a sufficient number and variety of healthy options in a community.

Confidential and proprietary. FOOD ACCESSIBILITY 21 HEALTHY FOOD IS EASY TO GET What is Food Accessibility? Sources for healthy food are easy to get to at a manageable distance from home or work, using affordable and convenient personal or public transportation.

Confidential and proprietary. FOOD INFRASTRUCTURE 22 GROWING, PROCESSING, AND DISTRIBUTING SAFE, HEALTHY FOOD What is Food Infrastructure? Food infrastructure is the underlying physical, policy, and organizational structures needed for our food supply’s operation, services, and facilities. It includes: How, where, and what food is grown and by whom How food is processed, packaged, and distributed How food is marketed to and obtained by consumers How we dispose of food waste

Confidential and proprietary. FOOD CHARTER RESOURCES Food Charter website includes: How to host a Food Charter launch event toolkit Food Charter and Schools Leader Guide Food Charter setting-specific mini-guides Registration for Food Charter Champions to identify which strategies they will work on Simple toolkit to undertake effective media outreach, as well as talking points, press release, and key messages Background documents 23

Confidential and proprietary. GROUP PLANNING ACTIVITY Break out in small groups based on your area of interest in the Food Charter. Identify a strategy. Practice using the campaign tool. 24

Confidential and proprietary. WRAP UP Did you have any “aha!” moments? What was challenging? What challenges do you anticipate when working in your community? 25

Confidential and proprietary. Jenna Carter & Christian Knights Center for Prevention at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota 26