Frequently Asked Questions about ETC - Dakota County Minnesota

What is Eat. Talk. Connect!? The Dakota County Public Health Department is offering Eat. Talk. Connect! for the second year to increase connectedness within families. The program begins on September 28, 2009, on National Family Day . People can register through November 19. The goal of ETC! is to encourage families who live, work or worship in Dakota County to eat at least five family meals together each week. Families who eat meals together and log the meals will be eligible for family-friendly rewards and prizes!

Who is eligible to participate in Eat. Talk. Connect! ? Full participation in Eat. Talk. Connect! is limited to those who live, work, go to school, or worship in Dakota County. We are not able to provide the printed version of the Family Welcome Kit or prizes to families outside of Dakota County. Anyone is welcome to access family meal resources on the ETC! website, including the online calendar.

Why are connections among family members important? Research shows what we have always known: that connections to family and community are very important for our mental health and well being, just as food is for our physical health.

How does eating together increase family connections? Experts agree that family mealtimes are one of the best ways to build family connections. Research shows that children who eat at least five meals together with their families benefit in the following ways:

They are 40-50% less likely to smoke, use drugs, or alcohol, or engage in sexual activity.
They have greater academic success.
They eat more nutritionally and have fewer problems such as obesity, anorexia, or bulimia.
They experience less stress and are significantly less likely to be depressed.

How does Eat. Talk. Connect! work? ETC! begins September 28 and ends December 31, 2009. Families can register through November 19, 2009. If you eat at least three meals per week as a family and log your meals online, you will receive a Family Meal Conservation starter booklet and be eligible for prize drawings. If you provide your email address when you register, you will receive an ETC! electronic newsletter twice each month to keep you motivated and remind you about rewards and prizes. back to top

What rewards and prizes can I win? Families who live in Dakota County or who have a family member who works, goes to school, or is a member of a faith community in the county can register to participate in ETC! Your family will be eligible to win other great prizes by eating together regularly as a family and recording your family meals. IMPORTANT: you must log your family meals by the 1st of the following month to be eligible for prize drawings.

Families who log at least three meals eaten together each week for six consecutive weeks after registering will automatically receive a Family Meal Conversation starter booklet in the mail (while supplies last).
Families with children through 12th grade are eligible for drawings for additional prizes:

if your family logs at least three family meals eaten together each week, you will be eligible for monthly drawings for $50 gift cards for Cub, Rainbow, or Target.
if your family logs at least five family meals eaten together each week for at least ten weeks, you will be eligible to win a $100 gift card from Cub, Rainbow, or Target!

Families who complete the ETC! program evaluation by January 8, 2010 will be entered in the final gift card prize drawing.

More information about ETC!

Why do families have to have children to be eligible for some prizes? Anyone who has a family member who lives or works in Dakota County may participate in ETC! and is eligible for the family meal conversation starters booklet. Only families with children are eligible for the prize drawings.

How often should we record our family meals?   You do not need to record your family meals every day, but that may make it easier for your family to keep up with recording family meals. Remember that to be eligible for prizes, you must log your meals by the 1st of each month.

How do I participate if I don’t have access to the Internet? If you do not have access to the Internet, call 952-891-7500 to request registration materials by mail. If you are participating by mail, mail your paper calendar in time for it to be received by the 1st of the following month to: ETC! , Dakota County Public Health, 1 Mendota Road West, Suite 410, West St. Paul, MN 55118-4771.

What is a ”Family Meal”? All meals “count” for this program, including breakfast, lunch, or supper. You can record up to three family meals each day. A “family meal” is defined as at least one adult and one child eating breakfast, lunch, or supper together.

Do meals “count” if they aren’t eaten at home? Yes, you can count any meal as a “family meal” if you sit together somewhere and talk during the meal. Eating together at a restaurant, picnic, or backyard barbeque is a family meal. It is important to get rid of distractions such as TV, phones, radio, text messaging, iPods, video games, etc. Eating in the car does not “count” as a family meal.

Do family members have to be related to count as a family? No. Families can decide who they consider to be members of their family.                          back to top

Will my information be kept confidential? Yes, the information you provide, including your email address, will not be shared with anyone outside of the staff working with the ETC! program.

What is the Sign-on Name used for? Each family is asked to select a Sign-on Name that the family will use to log-on to record family meals on the ETC! calendar. The Sign-on Name must be unique and not used by anyone else. The Sign-on Name is case-sensitive and must be entered exactly the same way when you log-on.

I’ve forgotten my Sign-on Name and Password – can you help ? On the ETC! website login page there is a link near the bottom of the page that you can click if you have forgotten your Sign-on or password. It will prompt you by asking you the security questions you entered when you registered for the program.

Why is the website not accepting my Sign-on Name and Password? The Sign-on Name and Password are case-sensitive and must be entered exactly as originally entered. Check the CAPS Lock and Num Lock on your keyboard. If you continue to have problems, you can request a new Sign-on Name and password by clicking on the link at the bottom of the login page. (Please note that if you participated last year, you need to register again for the 2009 program.)

Why doesn’t anything happen when I click on the calendar page? You are only able to enter family meals on or after the date you register, and you can’t enter for a date in the future. To enter meals on the ETC! calendar, your Internet browser settings must be set to “allow for pop-ups.” We have posted tips to change your browser settings to allow pop-ups .

Why do I sometimes get “logged off” of the web site? Like most websites, the ETC! website has a “time out” limit. If there has been no activity on the site for 20 minutes or so, the website times out and you have to log in again. You may lose the information you entered if the system times out.

Who should I contact if I continue to have problems? Please send an e-mail to explaining the problem. Include a phone number so we can contact you if we have additional questions.

What is Twitter and how does it work? Twitter is a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent messages. There is no cost to sign up for Twitter and to get messages on the Internet. You can also set up your account to have tweets sent to your cell phone, but note that you may be charged a fee to receive text messages - check with your cell phone provider for more information.

What information will ETC! send via Twitter? Families participating in Eat. Talk. Connect! can elect to receive a daily "tweet" from ETC! at approximately 3 p.m. each afternoon. The tweet will include a Conversation Starter for that evening along with tips and reminders. Using Twitter is optional and not required for participation in ETC!

How do I set up for Twitter and have tweets sent to my cell phone? After you sign up for Twitter, you will be able to view tweets from ETC! on your Twitter home page. If you choose, you can also have tweets sent to your cell phone by following these steps:

Sign up for Twitter.
Follow ETC! on Twitter - go to your Home page, click on "Following" and then "add or invite more." Select the "Find on Twitter" tab and enter "EatTalkConnect" in the search box. (NOTE: EatTalkConnect is all one word - don't use quote marks).
Set up your cell phone to receive tweets. Select Settings and click on the Devices tab. Add your phone number and select "On" and click Save.
Authorize ETC! tweets to be sent to your phone. Go to your Home page and click on "Following." Look for the EatTalkConnect entry and click the small cell phone symbol to turn it green. (NOTE: it may take a few hours for EatTalkConnect to show up on your Following list.) Twitter will also ask you to to text back from your phone to verify that you want to receive tweets. back to top

Who sponsors ETC! ? The Dakota County Public Health Department is the primary sponsor of Eat. Talk. Connect! A community advisory committee helped plan and promote the program.   The program was originally developed by the Carver County (MN) Health Partnership, and Dakota County is appreciative of its support. Eat. Talk. Connect! is nonpartisan and nonsectarian, supporting families and residents of all beliefs and backgrounds.

How is ETC! funded? Eat. Talk. Connect! is funded by the Dakota County Public Health Department with assistance from a grant from UCare Minnesota.

How is ETC! being promoted? We are reaching out to families through schools, faith communities, work places, and other community organizations in Dakota County. If your organization is interested in helping promote ETC! , please contact us by email or call 952-891-7500.

How will we know if ETC! is successful? At the conclusion of the 2008 program, families participating in ETC! were asked to complete a survey about their experience with the program. You can read highlights from the ETC! evaluation on the website.

How can I get more information about Eat. Talk Connect!? Please email or call 952-891-7500.                                                                      back to top