Food Politics

Heck, NO! One of the things I like about WIC is that it offers access to fairly plain, ordinary healthy foods. This is a vitally important example for our most vulnerable families, who need to learn how to feed themselves appropriately after the WIC subsidy goes away.

We’ve gotten ourselves into this pickle by making an entire generation of Americans believe that certain types of food (especially expensive, less-accessible ones) have magic healing powers. WIC is the one voice in the wilderness that says you don’t have to have organic Omega-3 fortified probiotics, you can build a healthy diet from ordinary beans, whole grains, canned fish and dairy.

I fear that the reason some people pass up beans for flamin’ hot cheetos is that they believe the only truly healthy foods are the well-marketed “magic” ones, and if they aren’t going to have “magic,” they may as well have comfort.

The money would be better spent improving the rates and public acceptance of breastfeeding..

What a load of crap. People need to know that Real Food, taken right from the earth or sea, already has “functional ingredients” like omega-3′s, antioxidants, and probiotics. These foods are often cheaper than the Fake Food offered by the Fake Food people. They are not, however, always covered by WIC.

I used WIC for a couple of years, back when my kids were little. I could buy peanut butter loaded with sugar and extra hydrogenated fat, cheddar cheese colored orange, white bread, and of course, milk and eggs, from any factory farm in the country. I didn’t know better, then. But I understand being poor enough to not have a choice.

This was in the 80s. Maybe they’ve gotten better since then. But there’s no way they should fall for this nonsense.

@ Alexander Rinehart, CCN.

Second. All in favor?

I was working at a restaurant near a university and a woman was providing her infant with nature’s perfect food for infants, directly. After these folks left I was approached by a college student who pondered why I allowed it. Apparently it was beyond this guy’s control to look away..He was so appalled that an infant could be hungry

Can I just say that I love this article and all you commentors so far!?!

@Marlene, WIC has changed a lot of their food program. They even have an agreement with a lot of Farmer’s Markets now. WIC also gives higher food allowances to breastfeeding moms (awesome since this saves money in formula costs!). The WIC program, at least here in Michigan, is really trying to change the culture and make it better for everyone.

Interesting, considering that as of 2009 at least, most states’ WIC programs did not include organic products on their allowed lists, due to the higher cost.

http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_17931.cfm

I know the debate still rages over whether organic vs conventional food is healthier for consumers, but with a similar debate over “functional foods”, I’ll be curious to see if WIC is consistent in prioritizing lower cost food/formula or if it bows to strong industry pressure.

Stacy

On Wic in Missouri, you can get choose organic fruits and vegs. But nothing else is organic. And yes the foods are better, Whole Wheat breads, juices with no added sugars. I wish it was way more difficult for women to get formula on Wic. Our office is very pro-breastfeeding, but there are still so many women who don’t breastfeed.

My experience is that WIC encourages breastfeeding on paper and with some support, but women remain largely under informed and under supported in breastfeeding. Recently, my own doctor (a well-educated woman by any measure) barely managed three weeks of breastfeeding. “Not enough milk” is the usual refrain. In fact, it’s usually an unwillingness to sit still, eat well, drink plenty of water, and get enough rest to allow the body to make milk. Also, you have to feed the child a lot and not use supplemental formula to get the milk going, Feeding on a schedule and using formula to allow you to run around on a zillion errands without sitting down to feed the baby will result in “not enough milk”. This is a problem with the culture of modern life, not a lack of understanding that breatsfeeding is good thing. Women need to not have to return to a job in a matter of weeks to succeed at breastfeeding–yes, there are surely exceptions, and hurrah for those who succeed in spite of little time off, but it is surely not the norm.

Thanks to policy changes introduced when WIC updated the foods provided to low-income families, WIC provides much more intensive support and concrete incentives to women who breastfeed.

And it’s working! For the first time in California WIC history, the rates of exclusive breastfeeding are now higher than the rates of mixed (formula and breastmilk) feeding! Formula marketing that touts the unproven benefits of additives undermines WIC efforts to promote and support breastfeeding.

Read more at http://www.calwic.org/legislation_federal.aspx

(PS: I am not the CA WIC Director! CWA is a non-profit association.)

I’m a breastfeeding mom who receives WIC benefits in Michigan. The only problem I have with the program is that they offer so much puree baby food (64 jars fruit/veggie & 31 jars meat) and not enough $ (10) for fresh fruits and veggies. My baby hates puree and will only eat what he can feed himself so we’ve done Baby-Led Weaning almost from the get go of feeding.

I wish they would let me trade all that puree for proper food!

I don’t know if this includes WIC or just what used to be known as “food stamps,” but in Chicago, a number of city-sponsored farmers’ markets in various neighborhoods are now set up to accept payment by LINK cards (that is, food stamps), so people who use that system of payment can buy a wide variety of vegetables, fruits, artisanal cheeses, etc. (assuming they have enough money in their account).

While it’s great that some farmers markets in some states are accepting whatever vouchers that state has, I feel this is getting a little too much good press. While “available”, use is very limited. We should be doing more to encourage purchases outside of grocery stores. The perceived expense of farmers markets is keeping program participants away.
In NC, some farmers markets will even double the value of WIC or SNAP vouchers. Still, use has been limited. Some markets even have the portals to swipe benefit cards. I go to the Durham market twice a week and I’ve never seen anybody pay by either of these methods. I can only hope I’ll see it one of these times

@anthro I’m not sure if “unwillingness to sit still, eat well. . . ” etc. explains why women may not breastfeed. To really support breastfeeding, as you note at the end of your reply, women need to have more than a few weeks off. This just isn’t an economic reality for many women who get very little or no paid leave. Supporting breastfeeding requires more than education and more than public acceptance. It requires long-term, paid leave for breastfeeding mothers.

@anthro, @melissa- in fact, if a woman goes back to work after the 6 week disability leave that passes for maternity leave in this country, she goes back right when a major baby growth spurt hits. I remember breastfeeding literally non stop for hours at a time over the 2-3 days it took for my milk supply to increase to my baby’s needs during the 6 week growth spurt. I have a hard time fathoming how breastfeeding can succeed if you take the mom away from the baby at that critical time, and then drop her into the stress of resuming work. It is insane.

Personally, I would have liked 3 months off, 3-6 months part time. I couldn’t swing that, so I had 3 months off and 1 month part time. And with that, I’ve been able to exclusively breastfeed two kids. The second baby never had any formula. The first had some at the very start, when we had a hard time establishing the latch. But she never had any after the first week of her life, and went on to nurse for almost two years. The second one is a couple of weeks away from her first taste of cow’s milk. I’ll keep nursing her when we’re together, but taper off the pumping while at work.

Anyway, my point is that it doesn’t take a year long leave to support breastfeeding. Just long enough to allow the supply to get established before going back to work, and the time and space to pump at work. A longer leave might be nice (although I honestly wouldn’t have wanted a year off either time), but it is not required. I think that people sometimes assume we have to go to the sorts of leaves they have in Canada or Europe, but that is not true. We should go to something more humane than 6 weeks, though.

Marion, I kind of get what you’re saying — the “bioactive” ingredients aren’t proven to be effective, so including them is questionable, therefore charging more for them is as well.

Nonetheless, food companies charge more for all sorts of things that don’t have any proven benefit. So do drug companies. Sometimes government is involved or is a major purchaser.

The issue here is whether WIC should be the largest purchaser of formula in the United States. That says something about how we value and support the poorest in our communities. Those babies deserve to be breastfed, and actively and effectively supporting breastfeeding is where WIC should be investing its resources.

If formula is going to cost them more, maybe that will be incentive for them to “put their money where their mouth is”, or rather where the the babies’ mouths are.

The story here is not the increasing cost of formula. It’s not formula making stupid claims. That’s really really really old news. Really.

The story is why is WIC the biggest purchaser of formula in the States? Do all their clients have hepatitis or HIV? Are they radioactive from medical tests or treatment? If not, they can probably breastfeed, or at least partially breastfeed.

The point here is the govt should PROVE that the ingredients added to raise the cost of the product are useful through research! That it makes a difference, cause it’s costing tax payers $$$ to pay for them, in addition to paying for what is for many, a lifestyle choice, with potentially more tax payer $$ to be shelled out in the future for poor health. The probiotics, dha, etc were added as GRAS (generally regarded as safe) for competition, then companies stopped making products without additives, forcing WIC to pay $$ for the additives. So do we want to pay for unproven additives? we are right now!

[...] weekly Marion Nestle blog post link: Should WIC Pay for More Functional Foods. Be warned, the post itself is short but comments below are intelligent and insightful. Worth [...]

On the actual subject of the formula and it getting more expensive..i’m just wondering which formula is more expensive? My oldest DD is 7 1/2 and when I bought her formula is was $15 a can…now my youngest is 11 mnths old and I exclusively breastfed her for 9 months..but she is now on formula and it still costs the same. Yes, the packaging has changed and now it touts DHA and Omega 3′s on the front of the can, but the price is the same as it was over 7 years ago when I had my first child.

It is now 1:30 AM and I should be asleep, but instead I am trapped reading this blog. (good for my brain/awful for my morning).
As a single mother I applied for WIC (and just about every assitance program I could when I found out I was pregnant. I was completely appalled by the WIC program. I wish I had the list in front of me now, but, purchasing anything of substance and anything free of chemicals or organic was not allowed. I was only given 15$ per month for fruits and vegetables, but was offered plenty of stamps for products containing ingredients I would never put in my body— especially while pregnant or breast-feeding. The only non dairy option for milk was a non organic soy product (obviously made with GMO soy). The cheese? disgusting. I’m vegan anyway— but even before I was vegan there was no way I would buy such poor quality food. Eggs? Only large white allowed– no brown. The bread was to be the sugar free type of bread… which of course means ‘take out the sugar– add extra chemicals & additives’. And again— NOTHING was allowed to be organic. Why on earth should pregnant woman be putting such low quality, non organic, added chemical foods into their bodies? Unless the mother absolutely CANNOT breastfeed they shouldn’t even be offering formula. But, of course they do, because the same HUGE companies offering crap products to pregnant woman are also making formula that needs to be sold for profit. The whole thing is disgusting. Future generations don’t stand a chance if our government will only supply the lowest of crap to our mothers, babies, and children.