leveraged by partnering with health foundations, which should be asked to match funding for important WIC research.

1. The California WIC Association strongly supports Robert Whitaker’s proposal to coordinate nutrition education and communication strategies around a series of WIC interventions. California WIC has had great success using the Sesame Healthy Habits messages in a unified messaging and education intervention that is described in a Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior article.

2. Pilot and evaluate WIC breastfeeding interventions, including the distribution of generically labeled formula, in order to document what works to increase the rates and duration of exclusive breastfeeding.

Joanne Arsenault, Nutrition Policy Analyst, RTI International:

1. Increase breastfeeding rates; identify why rates are lower among WIC participants than among income-eligible non-participants; identify what works for promotion; and implement/standardize across the program.

2. Conduct detailed dietary surveys to determine which WIC foods are actually consumed by the target individuals, and conduct longitudinal studies to determine if nutritional risk factors decrease over time on WIC because of the consumption of WIC foods.

3. Conduct longitudinal studies to determine if WIC has an impact on overall diet quality and food insecurity.

Melanie Hall, M.S., R.D., Nutrition Marketing-WIC; and Nelson Almeida, Ph.D., F.A.C.N., V.P, US/Global Nutrition, Science, Labeling & Marketing, Kellogg Company:

1. Work with the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to evaluate a variety of nutrition education methods.

2. Find ways to study and communicate the benefits of including produce in the new food package, for both WIC participants and retailers.

3. Investigate how the WIC program (including nutrition education and food package options) influences WIC participants’ purchasing habits outside of the food package. Consider a longitudinal study that compares participants’ actual buying behavior before, during,