Fresh Choices: Information for Oregon WIC staff

Healthy foods, healthy messages, healthy families.

Overview

Final Food List 

Resources for WIC staff

Implementation of Fresh Choices 

Staff In-Service materials 

Nutrition Education materials 

Healthy foods

Healthy messages

Healthy families

Information for WIC vendors   (takes you to the WIC Vendor page)

2009 WIC Statewide Meeting   (takes you to the WIC Statewide Meeting page)

WIC is preparing for the biggest transformation the program has seen in over 30 years! 

Beginning in August of 2009, we will make unprecedented changes to the WIC food package to encourage our clients to:

• Eat more fruits and vegetables.
• Increase whole grain and fiber consumption.
• Lower saturated fat in the diet.
• Drink less sweetened beverages and juice.
• Exclusively breastfeed their babies.

In Oregon, we are calling this project Fresh Choices. These changes will make the foods we offer more consistent with current Dietary Guidelines, and will further solidify WIC’s role as the premier public health nutrition program. 

All documents are informat unless noted otherwise.

Food List   Effective August 1, 2009 (posted April 20, 2009)

Fresh Choices status reports: January/February 2009 
         

           Power Point presentations:  November/December 2008   September/October (2008)  
           July/August (2008)  

Overview:   Fresh Choices  (Power Point)

OWCA Fresh Choices Presentations

April 2009  

January 2009 
October 2009 (Power Point)

 

Read the New Food Package Interim Rule 

Difficult Questions  3 pgs (OWCA: January 2009)  

WIC Food Packages Overview  1 pg (OWCA: January 2009)   

NWA Conference Call - April 22, 2009:   Oregon's Fresh Choices Vendor Training  

WIC Checkout Summary for Cash Value Voucers 

WIC Checkout Summary for Standard Vouchers 

National WIC Association New Food Package National Conference Call, February 11, 2009

Audio link: "Experiences and Lessons Learned from Early Food Package Implementers"  

Hear about New York and Delaware WIC agencies' staff experiences after implementing the new food package Jan. 1, 2009.  Oregon WIC staff may contact Karen Bettin for a summary of content or further information regarding this recording. This link will be removed Sept. 30, 2009. 

WIC Partners Fresh Choices  Presentation

Preparation and Planning Resources 

Information for the implementation of Fresh Choices with a focus on training, education, clinic preparation, and transitioning WIC participants.

Fresh Choices Implementation Checklist (OWCA: April 2009)   7 pgs

Preparing for Fresh Choices: Staff Training and Participant Education Plan (OWCA: Oct. 2008)  

Fresh Choices Staff, Vendor and Participant Timeline (OWCA: January 2009)  

Required Training 2 pgs (OWCA: January 2009)  

Implementation Outline 6 pgs (OWCA: January 2009)  

TWIST Food Package Conversion for Fresh Choices (OWCA: April 2009)   3 pgs

Job Aid: Dealing with category changes when vouchers have been issued into the future 3 pgs

Fresh Choices Conversion Information

Fresh Choices in TWIST - Issues and Solutions 3 pgs

Solving the Puzzles of Fresh Choices Food Package Conversion 5 pgs

TWIST Questions and Answers 3 pgs

Calling the State Office with Fresh Choices Questions 1 pg

Soy Beverages FAQs 

New Foods and Food Packages FAQs 

 

Date	Conversion Up-Date topics
Sept. 4	Changing milk selection; Acidophilus milk; category definition changes in TWIST; new modules
Aug. 25	Reactivating participants; new modules, supplemental food exclusions
Aug. 17	Nutramigen powder; providing two different formulas
Aug. 7	Dating Medical Documentation; changing "some" to "mostly"; Nutramigen powder
Aug. 6	New modules; preconversion vouchers and new food list; void issued FI's; printer default; temp newborn and IB selection; over the max errors
Aug. 5	New modules; two pounds of cheese; FI Status button; IB category selection; special infants
Aug. 4	Packages that didn't convert; termed women; milk and food packages available; soy for children; medical documentation; reports; minimum stock required
Aug. 3	All WIC participants changed to Fresh Choices Food Packages; some food packages need review; max food errors; Medical Documentation conversion; category changes; women with no package; new milk, food or formula requests; help

Anticipatory Guidance (April 2009)

Staff In-Service Anticipatory Guidance  99 KB

In-Service PowerPoint Anticipatory Guidance (save first to your computer for faster viewing)
   9,54 KB

Worksheet What information do participants need? 32 KB

Handout Providing anticipatory guidance by participant category and age   587 KB

Handout Providing anticipatory guidance to participants with special food packages   156 KB  

Breastfeeding Resources (July 2009)

Resource Materials Providing Breastfeeding Guidance in a Fresh Choices Environment   
   136 KB

Infant Feeding  (February 2009) 

Staff In-Service Infant Feeding Prenatal  649 KB 

In-Service PowerPoint Infant Feeding (save to your computer first for faster viewing) 14,569 KB 

Handout Postpartum Woman and Infant Category Definitions    1,184 KB 

Handout New WIC Food Packages for Postpartum Mom and Baby    639 KB

Handout Providing Anticipatory Guidance to Prenatal Participants    577 KB 

Low Fat Milk  (November 2008)     

Staff In-Service Changing to a Low-Fat Milk  17 pages   147KB  

Medical Documentation  (March 2009)

Staff In-Service Medical Documentation  12 pages   65 KB

In-Service PowerPoint Medical Documentation   4,266 KB

     (save to your computer first for faster viewing)

Handout Medical Documentation Form    226 KB

Handout Medical Documentation Definitions   40 KB

Handout Medical Documentation Qualifying Conditions   35 KB

Whole Grains  (March 2009)

Staff In-Service Whole Grains FAQ    71 KB

Anticipatory Guidance Handouts

Handouts  Mini-posters (En/Sp)  New WIC foods for moms to be  

Handouts  Mini-posters (En/Sp)  New WIC foods for children  

Handouts  Mini-posters (En/Sp)  New WIC foods for fully breastfed babies  

Handouts  Mini-posters (En/Sp)  New WIC foods for fully breastfeeding moms  

Handouts  Mini-posters (En/Sp)  New WIC foods for partially breastfeeding babies & moms  

Handouts  Mini-posters (En/Sp)  New WIC foods for non-breastfeeding babies & moms  

Infant Foods  (April 2009)

Handout  Preparing Your Infant Feeding Classes for Fresh Choices   94 KB

Handout  It's time to eat! - Food for Your Baby. (English)    138 KB

Handout  It's time to eat! - Food for Your Baby. (Spanish)    138 KB

It's time to eat! - Food for Your Baby quantities will be sent to local agencies in June 2009.

Milk

Group NE materials: Get the Skinny on Milk   6.24MB 

Whole Grains (March 2009)

Outline  Whole Grain Group NE    144 KB

Handout  Whole Grain WIC Cereals     33 KB

Handout  Fiber Bucks      109 KB

Handout  High Fiber Food List     42 KB

Handout  What Do Your Taste Buds Say?     72 KB

Handout  Becoming A Whole Grain Food Detective    59 KB

New foods

• Fresh or frozen fruits and veggies - Dollar benefit for women and children using a cash value voucher of $6 to $10 per month.
• 100% whole wheat bread.
• Brown rice and soft corn tortillas as an alternative to whole wheat bread.
• Soy beverage as an alternative to milk.
• Canned salmon as an alternative to tuna.
• Baby food fruits and vegetables for all babies, baby food meat for infants who are fully breastfed.

Changes to existing foods

• Reduced milk, eggs and juice for women and children.
• Women and children over 24 months of age will only be able to buy reduced-fat milks (2%, 1% or skim). 

We will help clients connect Fresh Choices to our Key Nutrition Messages, which include:

• Make half your grains whole.
• Vary your veggies.
• Focus on fruit.
• Babies were born to be breastfed.
• When your baby is ready for solid food, introduce one new food at a time with a spoon.

Together with our community partners and medical providers, we can bring consistent health messages to our shared families and reinforce seamless nutrition education.

Fresh Choices focuses on healthy foods and healthy messages as the foundation of healthy families.  These new food choices, together with consistent nutrition messaging, will allow WIC to support the foundations of health and nutrition for our 110,000 clients across Oregon. We are excited about the opportunities these changes will bring to our WIC families!

Check back often to find out what's happening with Fresh Choices...