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5 Tips for Communicating with Policymakers

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Know your policymakers.

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Frame your message.

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Be their expert.

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Engage

them in

district.

“I am thankful for the valuable information my staff received during the …SNAP-Ed Luncheon. I look forward to my office continuing to develop our relationship with the …SNAP-Ed program.” – US Senator Mike Lee

“Not only were really good nutritional habits being touted, but also good parenting was being modeled…I think that all the things that were taught and modeled [in the class] are very good for families and affect children in such a meaningful way…We really do believe in the educational process that’s happening with …SNAP-Ed.” Rhonda Perkes, Congressman Stewart’s Office

Hi LaCee!�It’s been awhile and I hope you’re doing well and had a nice summer. I believe last we spoke, I was working for Senator Hatch. Starting in January I joined with Senator Lee and his great staff. I heard about your upcoming event on October 2 from Congressman Bishop’s office and want to make sure we didn’t miss anything on our end in case you sent an invitation. We have some staff out of the country so thought I’d double check as I know that Lee staffers have attended and supported your events in the past. I cc’d Linda Patino on this and she works for both Senators Lee and Romney on education programs throughout the state. We’d appreciate any additional information you can give us.��Thanks!��Nathan Jackson�Office of U.S. Senator Mike Lee

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Follow up.

Thank You

Please join us for…

Thank you very much for taking time to meet with me last week. I hope that the quick overview of SNAP-Ed and how the program is doing in Utah was helpful. If you have any more questions, please let me know.

Due to the way that we collect participant data, I can’t give you the percentage of SNAP participants who participate in the program. I can share that over 50% of those we reach are eligible for SNAP-Ed. We target our recruitment and class locations based on school and census data, as well as other indicators to make sure that most of the population is living at 185% of the federal poverty line.

I can give you some references to the peer-reviewed journals that support our evidence-based approaches. I’ve attached the highlighted article. It focuses on our Create Better Health adult curriculum, which was just accepted into the Food and Nutrition Service SNAP-Ed Toolkit. The final article in the list is part of our evidence supporting the Thumbs Up for Healthy Choices (another intervention that has been accepted into the toolkit). It hasn’t been published yet, but I can send it once it is. Once our annual report is finalized, I can send that to you as well.

Thanks again!

Best regards,

LaCee

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For more details, please contact us.

Heidi LeBlanc

heidi.leblanc@usu.edu

LaCee Jiménez

lacee.jimenez@usu.edu