WIC Program Finalizes Whole Grain Rules

Earlier this spring, USDA finalized changes to the WIC (Women, Infants and Children) supplemental feeding program. The updates – first proposed in December 2007 – became effective in October 2009. Although at this point they were still considered “interim rules,” subject to final comments and tweaks, their provisions for offering more fruits, vegetables, whole grains and other healthy foods hit the ground running.

There’s good evidence that the new WIC rules almost immediately made a big difference in increasing the availability of whole grain products in traditional food deserts. Researchers in New Orleans visited small neighborhood stores in that city when the interim rules were introduced, and then a year later. They found that just 3.7% of stores participating in the WIC program carried whole wheat bread or brown rice in 2009, while 70.4% offered whole wheat bread a year later and 92.6% offered brown rice. Most of this change can be attributed to the impact of the WIC program, as only 1.5% of non-WIC participating small stores carried whole wheat bread in 2010, and only 12.1% carried brown rice. These changes in availability can make healthier choices available not just to people in the WIC program, but to everyone in that neighborhood.

Now that the tweaking is over and the WIC updates are final, it’s a good time to spell out how whole grains are being featured in the WIC program, in Q&A format.

To read the rest of the story, please go to: Oldways Preservation Trust/Whole Grains Council