Community Groups – Think Broadly

There are many different types of "groups" who can be influential in assisting the 5 A Day campaign at your school.

• Parents are the primary individuals who can influence a 5 A Day campaign, because in most households parents purchase most food consumed by teens. Encouraging parents to purchase fruits and vegetables are important community outreach goals. Even a simple mailing or take home pamphlet about the 5 A Day program and what parents can do to help is an important form of community outreach. Remember that your parents might not be as aware of the importance of 5 A Day as you are.
• Teachers, Coaches, and School Administrators. Although they are part of the school, they also are influential community individuals for teens. Encourage them, like parents, to promote the 5 A Day tenets. Some teachers and coaches are particularly influential to the students at your school. Try to enlist these teachers to be involved in your program and mention it in their classes and in other activities they supervise.

Influential community groups:

• Churches. If your school is in a small area, most students probably go to only a few churches in the area. Ask you church if they’d be willing to sponsor a 5 A Day potluck, where all of the contributed recipes are combined into a 5 A Day cookbook.
• Recreation Centers. A large number of students at your school may be involved in various recreation activities (e.g. local fitness center, tennis program, summer activities program).
• Youth Clubs. Depending on your community, Boys and Girls Clubs, Boy Scouts, Girl Scouts, and other youth clubs may be active and involve a number of students from your school.
• Places students at your school hang out. Where do the students at your school generally go to hang out and meet each other on weekends or after school? These places could include malls, shopping centers, certain fast food establishments, and parking lots. By targeting the food establishments that teens patronize to promote the 5 A Day campaign you raise the number of positive eating choices teens have.
• After considering the list of possible places where students at your school tend to go when not at school, you may want to include these places in your campaign. Even a small commitment such as placing materials (posters, pamphlets, etc) with them will increase the impact your program has on the students at your school.

Influential organizations:

• Major Businesses. Most communities have a few prominent businesses. Some of these businesses are influential to teens in your community because they employ teens, serve teens, and/or employ the parents of many of the students at your school. Consider asking these companies to display appropriate media such as posters, tent cards, etc. in support of the 5 A Day campaign. Some may be willing to help sponsor specific activities you have planned and provide the monetary resources to do it.
• Media Outlets. Your community has a number of media outlets which are highly influential to the students at your school. Local television and radio stations that appeal to teens are a prime target of your community outreach and expansion. These stations are mandated to provide public service announcements. If you have produced a 30-second TV or radio spot, ask these local stations to run it as a public service announcement. Encourage them to place it at a time when teens are more likely to be watching (e.g. 3 to 5 pm instead of 3 to 5 am). Although paid media advertising can be expensive, most local stations are not always fully sold out may be willing to put your ad in an unsold spot. Also consider your local cable outlet. They must provide community access stations and you may be able to get a 15 or 30 minute spot to showcase your campaign.

In addition to TV and radio, some local print media also may be an option. Before pursuing this, however, consider which, if any, of the local print media your target audience reads. If you find a local paper or magazine that the students at your school tend to read, consider placing ads, possibly underwritten by a local business.

• Internet outlets. If your school has an internet site that students frequent, you probably used this outlet in your campaign. You may have even created your own page associated with your school site for the campaign. If so, you may want to consider expanding to any other local internet sites that students frequent. If you contact these sites and offer to cross-link, they may agree to feature a link to your site if you feature a link to their site.

Press Releases

One of the easiest and lowest cost ways to get the word out about your 5 A Day campaign is to send press releases to the local news (TV, news radio, newspaper) announcing the program and how it was implemented. Stations that pick up the story will have someone interview the primary people involved and run a story on your campaign. Below is a sample press release for you to use as a template.

For Immediate Release

Headline: Students at Acme High Produce 5 A Day Campaign to Increase Fruit and Vegetable Consumption

Marketing students at Acme High School in Anywhere have developed and recently implemented "5 A Day" at their school. The goal of the campaign is increase fruit and vegetable consumption among the students at Acme High School.

The marketing class of Mr. John Doe developed and implemented the 5 A Day program based on marketing concepts the students have learned in class using the Leading the Way to 5 A Day program.

Using information provided by surveys and focus groups, the class devised a marketing plan to increase fruit and vegetable consumption at their school. The central theme of the campaign was, "Take 5 to Grab 5." In addition to poster and print materials, the class placed advertisements in the school paper and produced a short video advertisement which was played on the school’s closed circuit TVs.

The program also included a "Veggie of the Day" campaign in which students, with assistance from school lunch officials highlighted a different vegetable each day from September 15 – 19, 2003.

"The campaign has been received positively by the students and has been a great learning experience for us," said Melissa Sowell, the student director of the 5 A Day project.

Mr. Doe said that "the class has done an excellent job of developing and implementing a marketing plan to increase vegetable and fruit consumption by the students of Acme High." The program will continue through the rest of the school year and a second survey of the student body will be performed to assess the effectiveness of the program.

To read about ways others have reached out to their community to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, see the Dannon Institute's Community Nutritionary.