Wow! This really made my day! This is so long overdue…

The Women, Infants and Children (WIC) food program has just received its first major rules change since its creation in 1972. The good news is that WIC participants are now allowed to purchase fruits, vegetables and whole grains!

The WIC program (overseen by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) provides supplementary nutrition to qualifying low-income women who are pregnant or have children up to the age of five who are at nutritional risk.

WIC guidelines only allow the vouchers to be used to purchase certain items that are nutritional necessities. The new rules are designed to decrease saturated fat and cholesterol intake and increase the intake of fiber, fruits and vegetables.

For the first time, WIC vouchers can be used to purchase fruits or vegetables. At the same time, the maximum allowed amounts of eggs, juice and dairy products have been lowered.

Another rule change aims to encourage breastfeeding by giving out fruit and vegetable vouchers valued at $10 to each woman who fully breastfeeds her infants. This is compared with the normal $8 value of the voucher. In addition, the amount of infant formula that can be purchased for partially breastfed infants has been decreased.

I consider this a big step in the right direction!