WIC, a nationwide and federally funded program, helps to support the health and nutrition of low-income mothers and children under 5 years old.
What is WIC?
You may have heard the term WIC used before, or seen a WIC facility in your area. WIC stands for women, infants, and children, and is a federally funded program that assists qualifying low-income mothers and their children up to 5 years of age. Individuals are deemed eligible if they meet the low-income criteria, and are determined to be nutritionally at risk. This program provides supplemental foods, nutrition education, and referrals to health care, at no cost. There are about 12,000 nutrition service provider agencies that help serve over 6.2 million mothers and young children nationwide.
Who qualifies?
To qualify for WIC benefits, you must be pregnant, breastfeeding, postpartum, or have a child aged 5 or younger. You must also be a resident of the state you live in, or plan to live in. Additionally, you must have a gross family income that is within the maximum income guidelines shown in the chart below. You can go to your state’s website to use their WIC eligibility assessment tool to see if you qualify.
How can I sign up?
If you think that you may qualify based on the pre-screening tools, you can call or visit a clinic to make a registration appointment at your local agency. There are clinics in each state, so you can go to your state’s WIC government website to locate your closest agency.
Your state’s WIC website will also tell you what to bring and what to expect at your first appointment. You will need to have all those who are looking to enroll in the program, identification for yourself and any children ages 5 or younger, proof of address, and proof of income. At the appointment, the program services and benefits will be reviewed as well as a nutrition assessment for each eligible family member.
If I don’t qualify, why should I care about WIC?
In 2021, the USDA estimated that 10.2% of all U.S. households were food insecure, meaning that 13.5 million households had difficulty at some time during the year providing food for all of their members because of a lack of resources. The WIC-provided food benefits have been shown to reduce household food insecurity as well as child food insecurity. WIC is an important program to boost the overall health and success of your community, whether you participate or not. You can help support resources and participants by advocating for WIC in your area. This is important to help improve the client experience, reduce stigma, and improve participation rates. Through the food benefits program, WIC helps to bring healthy foods into local communities. With decreased food insecurity, participants are able to thrive better and contribute to fostering a community of growth.
WIC food benefits
WIC helps to care for nutritionally at-risk individuals by providing vouchers for the purchase of supplemental foods. Included are infant formula, infant purees, iron-fortified cereals, eggs, fruits and vegetables, dairy products, soymilk, tofu, peanut butter, beans and lentils, canned fish, and whole grain products.
How to be plant-based with WIC food benefits
WIC food benefits apply to a select group of grocery items that are meant to supplement the nutritional needs of mothers and young children. Many of these items are plant-based and can provide good sources of protein and iron. Legume-based foods such as tofu, peanut butter, and dried beans are all qualifiable. These foods are also great for practicing baby-led weaning.
Budget-friendly tips
The food benefits provide inexpensive basics for all diets, not just plant-based ones. For produce, WIC food benefits apply to frozen, canned, and fresh fruits and vegetables. Frozen and canned foods are often less expensive than fresh and provide pretty much the same nutritional value. We recommend choosing canned and frozen products not only because they tend to cost less, but also because they will last much longer in your pantry than fresh. Dried beans are also a great choice because you will get much more for your money than canned beans once they are cooked. While this may seem like a daunting task, dried beans are simple to make, and can be prepped to be frozen for use later on.
We hope this helped familiarize you with the benefits of the WIC program. If you are interested in learning more, check the new WIC guidebook to plant-based eating created by our intern, Alexandra MacLean.
You don’t have to be on WIC to benefit! This guide contains tips on plant-based grocery options, cooking with beans/lentils, and vegetables of all types, along with budget-friendly family and baby-led weaning recipes.
Want the Guide? Enter your email below to download it.
Comment down below any experiences you or someone you know has had with WIC, or thoughts you have about the program!
