After I say this one more thing, in response to somebody's question about
the abundance (one might say surplus!) of some of the other WIC foods, I'll
bow out of this topic for a while. Spending too much time getting all hot &
cranky!

Why do WIC participants get so much milk, eggs, cheese, cereal? More than
most families could reasonably - and, many would argue, healthfully - use?
Well, let's remember that WIC started as a part of the solution to the
"surplus" in the dairy industry. Not a bad idea, but it translates into lots
of big bucks in subsidization to giant multinational agribusiness. The whole
WIC system operates by a bid system for the contracts for the various foods,
and the foods come up for re-negotiation at periodic intervals. So, for
example, in NY you have the "contract" for infant cereal with Gerber, which
violates the WHO code by direct marketing/advertising of infant formula. (I
protested this, right up to the director of the WIC program in NYS - a
heated but fruitless discussion, I assure you). The juice is Juicy-Juice,
(boycotted by me & my family), owned by Libby,  which is owned by American
Home products, owner of Carnation & Nestle...  And, at heart, WIC remains a
dairy-surplus program - as we nutrition staff used to joke, "Come get your
high-fat dairy products here!"

Not that that's necessarily a bad thing! Good comes out of it, but I think
it's always important to keep in mind that, at bottom, this is as much a
corporate subsidy as an altruistic "because we care about the children"
program. Which is why WIC doesn't provide foods that are REALLY good for
kids, like fresh fruits & vegetables (except in the summer, when the
Farmers' Market program kicks in to the tune of $20 worth of
produce/family).

Cynic or realist? I'll never tell!

Cathy Bargar, RN IBCLC Ithaca NY

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