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WIC food program becomes healthier

Published online on Tuesday, Oct. 06, 2009

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A historic shift occurred in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) program on Oct. 1.

For the first time, WIC's food packages for poor mothers and children include fruits, vegetables, tofu, and certain whole grains such as brown rice, whole-wheat bread and corn tortillas. It's a change toward lower-fat, nutrient-dense diets -- and away from WIC's staples of cheese, eggs, milk and juice.

Why the switch?

WIC was started in 1974 to feed underweight children with problems such as stunted growth, anemia and iron deficiency, says Linnea Sallack, the California WIC program director. Boosting calories with protein and dairy products helped address these conditions.

Now, with child obesity and its associated diseases on the rise, WIC had to change. To make room for the new foods, allotments of cheese and eggs were cut in half, Sallack says. The amount of milk and juice paid for by vouchers also dropped.

"This is what should have happened in the late 1980s," Sallack says.

I agree. It's no secret that we need to eat more fruits and vegetables, and the WIC vouchers are a modest way for mothers and children to eat more of them.

Under the current rules, fully breast-feeding mothers receive $10 a month for fruits and vegetables, while nonnursing new mothers and pregnant women get $8. Children 1-5 also receive $6 every month. (Compare this to average cost of the WIC food package in California, which is $60 per month for each participant.)

WIC recipients are poised to receive more funds. If H.R. 2997 -- the Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act -- is signed into law as expected, nonnursing new mothers and pregnant women will get $10 per month for fruits and vegetables.

These aren't the only significant changes to the WIC program. New mothers are encouraged to breast-feed exclusively for at least 30 days after a child is born.

"It really takes 30 days to get the milk supply established," Sallack says. So instead of offering new mothers a can of formula in the first month after birth, WIC will provide peer counseling and other services designed to encourage women to stick with breast-feeding.

Here too, H.R. 2997 likely will mean a big boost in services. The appropriations bill has targeted $80 million toward breast-feeding support and counseling. That's significantly higher than the $15 million this program has received every year since its inception in 2004, Sallack says.

In addition, there's a bonus fund for WIC programs that improve the breast-feeding rates of their participants.

The bill is good news for Fresno's WIC services, which don't include peer counselors for breast-feeding mothers. If the bill is signed into law, California will use its funds to offer such counseling in Fresno and other areas, Sallack says.

The changes also create new markets for local farmers. In the Valley and Mariposa County, the fruit and vegetable vouchers are worth an estimated $7 million annually.