Since the 1970s, the federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, known as WIC, has provided American moms, babies, and young children with specialized packages of nutritious foods and nutrition education. It is a pivotal program in our nation’s nutrition security safety net and an important means for millions of Americans to access nutritious dairy products for their families.
Yet, a new proposal from the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) threatens to cut the benefits provided to WIC beneficiaries to purchase milk and other dairy products, thereby reducing access to critical nutrients at a time of high food cost inflation and declining food security. Without a reversal from USDA, WIC mothers and children will have to adapt to live with reduced dairy benefits for many years to come.