Little Mama's Lowdown

Last month I received my first coupons for WIC (Women Infants and Children), a program run by the Food and Nutrition Services of the USDA which provides Federal aid to more than 8 million low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, as well as infants and children under the age of five who are deemed to be at nutritional risk. I was pretty stoked to qualify for a program which would lessen my financial stress… but as my WIC officer began explaining the “Allowable Foods List”, I started losing my excitement.  Except for the $8/month they give you for fruits and veggies, you aren’t allow to buy anything organic.

The fact that the USDA doesn’t encourage pregnant & nursing mothers, infants, and small children to eat organic food is not only mind-boggling but infuriating to me.  WIC claims that they do not limit women’s choices or their individual dietary preferences in any way, stating that it “safeguards the health of low-income women, infants, and children up to age 5 who are at nutrition risk by providing nutritious foods to supplement diets, information”.   Without the option to purchase organic products, women and their children are being forced to comply to a list of products laden with pesticides, unknown growth hormones, added sugars, artificial sweeteners, and genetically modified ingredients.

Each month I am given coupons for the following:

• 16-oz whole grains (which is almost impossible to find, since whole grains rarely come in packages that small.  The only thing I can find is Kroger’s brown rice.)
• 3 cans 12-oz frozen or 46-oz juice
• 4.75 gallons of store-brand milk (read this article, this one, and this one to find out why pasteurized milk is the devil)
• 36-oz hot or cold breakfast cereal (with privileges to frosted shredded wheat, hello?)
• 1-lb cheese (ok to buy American, wtf?!)
• 1-jar 18-oz peanut butter (why I DO love WIC, however, allowing mothers to buy Jiffy is ridiculous!  Read this)
• 1-carton store-brand eggs, white only, may not include fortified/enriched eggs w/vitamin E, DHA, or Omega 3.
• 1-can beans
• $8 fruits and/or veggies!!!  Organic is acceptable!!!

Overall, I can save about $25/month with WIC, which is really sweet.  However, I don’t use the milk or egg coupons because those products scare me shitless!  I just wish I didn’t have to waste that money… and it seems pretty rediculous to me that pregnant women should be drinking almost 5 gallons of freaky-deaky milk each month!!!

However, when I complain frequently to my dad about WIC, he reminds me that the WIC program today is much better than it was when I was born.  New USDA rules for WIC food includes more fruits and vegetables, more whole grains and less foods high in saturated fats.  The WIC program is meeting basic nutritional needs at a minimum cost– with finite funding, increasing food costs and increasing caseloads, many state WIC programs find themselves under pressure to cut costs.  Often organic foods are treated as luxuries.  Many states prohibit WIC recipients from using their WIC benefits for organic food, while other states which once allowed the purchase of organic food have reversed that decision under cost pressure.

Due to the changing economy, the number of WIC eligible families is growing tremendously and WIC funding does not increase with the number of eligible families.  The program is trying to stretch its funding as much as possible so no one gets turned away, and the cost of feeding two families organic food would cover three families eating conventional product. It would be difficult to justify turning away one family in order to feed two families organic food.  Supposedly, state WIC administrators are very receptive to information about pesticide residue in conventional food and the effects of pesticides on children and all of whom share a concern about adequate nutrition.  It’ll be interesting to see how WIC unfolds by the time my baby has a baby.