Representatives Young, Moore Lead 112 House and Senate Colleagues in Urging USDA to Update the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) Food Packages, Ensure Access to Healthy Food for Low-Income Families

Statement

Today, Congressman Don Young (R-AK-AL), and Congresswoman Gwen Moore (D-WI-4), in addition to Senators Lisa Murkowski (R-AK) and Kirsten Gillibrand (D-NY), led 112 of their Senate and House colleagues in writing a bipartisan, bicameral letter urging U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack to take swift action to issue the proposed rule, Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children: Revisions in the WIC Food Packages. WIC is one of the most successful federally funded nutrition programs in the country, improving dietary and health outcomes for roughly 6 million pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5. The letter also urges the Secretary to ensure that the proposed rule revise the WIC food packages to align with dietary recommendations from the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM) by allowing beneficiaries to purchase more fruits, vegetables, and lower-mercury seafood and imposing stronger standards for whole grains, sugar content, calcium, and protein.

"I am a strong advocate for the WIC program, which has a proven track record of supporting mothers in accessing healthy foods for themselves and their kids," said Congressman Don Young. "The science is clear: fruits, vegetables, and seafood are healthy nutritional options that greatly benefit the health and development of children. The WIC food packages must be revised to reflect that, and I am proud to join Senators Murkowski and Gillibrand, in addition to Congresswoman Moore, on a letter to encourage the Agriculture Secretary to swiftly implement reforms that make healthier, more natural food options eligible to be purchased by WIC beneficiaries."

"We should give vulnerable children every resource available support to grow healthy and strong," said Congresswoman Gwen Moore. "With this proposed rule change, WIC food packages would better meet the needs of mothers and their babies and give them greater access to healthy produce, such as fresh fruits and vegetables. I join Senator Gillibrand and my other colleagues in calling on the USDA to support NASEM's recommendations and quickly implement this rule. Our mothers and babies deserve the best!"

"The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program helps low-income women to purchase healthy foods for themselves and their infants and toddlers to ensure they get off to a strong, healthy start. Nutrition scientists have been clear in their recommendations: pregnant and post-partum women and young children benefit from eating lower-mercury fish, and that WIC's approved food packages should include more fish," said Senator Lisa Murkowski. "For several years, I have encouraged the inclusion of more healthy, nutritious fish--like Alaska's wild salmon--in more WIC food packages. I am pleased to join Senator Gillibrand in leading a letter to Secretary Vilsack encouraging him to swiftly propose new regulations that will include more lower-mercury fish, as well as more fruits and vegetables, in the WIC program."

"Providing healthier food options in WIC food packages has been shown to reduce childhood obesity and enhance other long-term health outcomes," said Senator Kirsten Gillibrand. "As food prices skyrocket nationwide, it is more important than ever to ensure that low-income families can afford to put nutritious food on the table. I urge Secretary Vilsack to expeditiously issue revised WIC food package guidelines in keeping with federal dietary recommendations. This ruling has been delayed for far too long and it is imperative that we give WIC participants the resources they need to maximize their WIC dollars."

"On behalf of the Alaska WIC Association, I want to thank Sen. Murkowski and Rep. Young for their ongoing support of the expanded WIC food package," said Patrick Ayres, President of the Alaska WIC Association. "Alaska's high food costs and limited availability make food security a real issue in remote Alaska. The women, infants, and children of Alaska are amongst the most nutritionally vulnerable in society. The availability of nutritious, affordable food is critical for their physical and cognitive development. I ask for your continued support of the expanded WIC food package."

"The WIC benefit bump has proven to be one of the most significant investments in nutrition security, increasing access to and consumption of fruits and vegetables for more than 4.7 million WIC participants. USDA can build on this progress by revising the WIC food packages as soon as possible," said Brian Dittmeier, Senior Director of Public Policy for the National WIC Association. "Science-based recommendations provide a blueprint for how expanded WIC food packages can invest in underconsumed food groups like fruits, vegetables, and seafood to further align participants' diets with the Dietary Guidelines for Americans. We applaud this bipartisan, bicameral effort led by Senators Gillibrand and Murkowski and Representatives Moore and Young to increase the amount of nutritious foods provided to WIC families and build a bridge to a modern WIC program that more robustly addresses the nutrient needs of participating families."