The U.S. Department of Agriculture has finalized changes to the nutrition program for women, infants and children that increases the allotted fruits and vegetables but decreases dairy.
Additionally, they announced that more than $7 billion, $1 billion more than last year, in funding has been secured for the nearly 7 million pregnant, nursing and postpartum women, babies and young children enrolled in the program.
“WIC has a half-century track record of caring for young families. USDA and the Biden-Harris Administration are committed to ensure that moms, babies and young children continue to thrive through WIC,” USDA Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack said in a press release.
It has been a decade since changes were made to the program, and the goal is to provide a larger variety of foods, accommodate special dietary needs and personal and cultural food preferences, according to the USDA. State agencies will have two years to implement the changes.
The expansion of whole grain choices includes items such as quinoa, blue cornmeal, wild rice, millet, teff and whole grain naan. Fruits and vegetable vouchers will provide $26 per month for children, $47 per month for pregnant and postpartum women, and $52 for breastfeeding women.
The new guidelines also reduce the amount of milk allowed per family, which the National Milk Producers Federation and the International Dairy Foods Association said is a disappointment.
“This final rule cuts the amount of milk that can be purchased by up to 3 gallons per family per month at a time of high food prices, stubborn inflation and rising hunger rates and harms nutrition security by disregarding the dietary guidelines’ findings that dairy items in the WIC food package are under consumed,” Michael Dykes, president and CEO of the International Dairy Foods Association, said in a statement.
However, the new guidelines expand availability for other dairy products.
“We do, however, recognize and appreciate how the final rule authorizes purchases of lactose-free milk and offers new flexibility for yogurt and cheese that will make it easier for WIC participants to access nutritious dairy foods,” Dykes said.
The New York Farm Bureau said they submitted comments last year on the proposed rule changes.
“While we are encouraged the USDA is increasing access for fruits and vegetables and as well as qualifying lactose-free products for the WIC program, we are disappointed in the decision to reduce spending on overall dairy products that children depend on to have a healthy start in life,” said Steve Ammerman, a spokesperson for the organization.
Bruce Gibson, an owner of Locust Hill Dairy in Lacona, Oswego County, said he doesn’t believe the change will impact dairy producers’ bottom line, however, he doesn’t agree with the message it sends.
“I understand that they don’t want someone using those dollars to buy a candy bar or something, but to veer away from dairy seems short-sighted, in my opinion,” Gibson said.
The USDA found that WIC participants were not redeeming the full amounts of dairy vouchers they were given, which is why they implemented the reduction. Deputy Under Secretary Stacy Dean said participants were redeeming about 55% to 70% of the total milk provided.
“The amount that we’re ending up with, which is about 3 to 4 gallons a month depending on the person, is 71% to 96% of the recommended daily allowance,” Dean said in an interview.
The WIC program only serves about 50% of those that are eligible, so another goal is to increase participation. According to data from the USDA, New York last year had a little over 400,000 participants.
“We actually predict that the amount of money that we’re spending on food, milk and dairy will continue to rise because even though the dairy package is slightly smaller, we will be serving more eligible people,” Dean said.
The USDA chose not to include peanut products for infants between 6 and 11 months old, which has seen criticism from allergists.
“Food Allergy Research and Education is extremely disappointed that the USDA did not embrace the strong, science-based recommendation that early introduction of peanuts can prevent a life-long food allergy,” Sung Poblete, CEO of the organization, said in a statement.
Dean said this guidance is something they are hoping to change as they continue to make changes in the coming years.
“I think as we head into the next updates, we’ll want to make sure that we are specifically asking about that recommendation because the science has evolved over the past few years,” she said.
