WIC vouchers promote fruit and vegetable consumption

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The federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) has begun distributing cash vouchers to low-income women and children to buy fruits and vegetables. With WIC reaching almost half of the infants and a quarter of all children under 5 years old in the United States, the vouchers provide an unparalleled opportunity to increase fruit and vegetable consumption among children. In 2010, UC Cooperative Extension researchers conducted a survey of WIC participants in Tulare, Alameda and Riverside counties, to guide development of a Farm-to-WIC program that would connect small local growers to the WIC market. In the next issue of California Agriculture journal, the researchers report on the survey results and identify specific kinds of produce that a new Farm-to-WIC program in California could target.

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