Women participating in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) program will soon see their monthly WIC fruit and vegetable vouchers get bigger. State agencies got the green light from USDA – via the Federal Register – to move forward with an increased voucher amount. All women on the WIC program will now get a $10 voucher for fruit and vegetables.

This increase was included in the FY 2010 Agricultural Appropriations bill, which passed last October and boosted the total amount of the fruit and vegetable voucher for women by an additional $2 a month. After the bill was passed, the action moved to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which fast-tracked the release of regulations to guide the implementation of the new voucher amounts. The regulations – published in the Federal Register, December 31, 2009 as WIC Revisions in the WIC Food Packages Rule to Increase Cash Value Vouchers for Women – are effective immediately.

With this increase, all women on WIC will now receive the full fruit and vegetable voucher amount originally recommended by the Institute of Medicine. Previously, the WIC fruit and vegetable voucher amount for women was $8. Over the next five years, these additional benefits will be worth a quarter of a billion dollars in additional fruit and vegetables for women in the WIC program.

State agencies have until April 30, 2010 to implement the new voucher amount.

Advocates should urge their states to implement the new benefit as soon as possible.

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