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New WIC packages to promote exclusive BF?!?!?!?!  

post #1 of 65
11/19/08 at 1:24pm
Thread Starter 
Starting in January WIC food packages are changing dramatically. Whole grain breads, tortillas and soy milk and tofu are going to be options!!! There are going to be cash value coupons for fresh, frozen or canned fruits and veggies!!! Also, infants will start receiving jarred baby food, particularly meats, at 6 months. Why is THAT exciting? Well, exclusive BF'ing moms will receive the highest amount of baby food. The more formula you get from WIC, the less other foods you get. Some of my colleagues and I were upset by the "all or nothing" idea of breastfeeding this new set up may give off BUT the tougher the economy gets, the more I think new moms are going to be willing to give it a shot in order to receive the highest possible amount of other free foods.

I'm honestly a little torn over my excitement about this. On one hand, of course I would love more moms to be exclusive. On the other, I would love more moms to be exclusive because they love BF'ing and truly believe that formula is not as close to breastmilk as they are told it is. I also don't feed jarred baby food and don't really encourage it. I don't discourage it, I just mention, often, how easy and healthy it is to make baby friendly foods at home. However, if bribery works, I'm not going to complain about it either, lol.

The really exciting part of all of this is that the document I read states this:
"The
definition recognizes that any
breastfeeding, even if only on an average
of once a day, provides some
immunological and nutritional benefits
that would otherwise not be provided to
an infant."

That is from a USDA document!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Here's the link to the document with all of the recommendations and the new food packages.
http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/regspubl...rimrulepdf.pdf
It's LONG and worded like most government docs but all the info is there if you can stay awake to read it, or skip around like I did
post #2 of 65
11/19/08 at 1:27pm
:

so does the gov't need bf moms to teach women?
post #3 of 65
11/19/08 at 1:30pm
oh wow, that's really big news for WIC!
post #4 of 65
11/19/08 at 3:11pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by transformed View Post
:

so does the gov't need bf moms to teach women?
I'm hoping this will mean more BF'ing counselors. I HOPE if that happens WIC as a whole will adopt a more uniform way of providing support. I like the fact that I am not a WIC employee and therefore seen as a more independent third party by clients (at least that's the goal). I also like the fact that I don't see clients in my office unless they drop in to say hi. All of my work is done in the field. I see moms at their home, in the hospital or whevever they need me. I also like the fact (99% of the time) that moms can reach me via my pager 24/7. I don't know if other states have this kind of support available???
post #5 of 65
11/19/08 at 4:34pm
is this going to take effect everywhere? man i was not going to renew WIC becuase i am off dairy becuase my LO is reacting to it---if we can get produce and WG bread that would be SOOOOO wonderful!
post #6 of 65
11/19/08 at 4:37pm
Awesome, changes have been needed for-ever!
post #7 of 65
11/19/08 at 4:40pm
I read about this. I think that Ohio is going in may. I don't know about canned baby food and such but they are adding grains, veg and fruits. Let me scrounge up the link I saw.
post #8 of 65
11/19/08 at 4:58pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by LBMarie9 View Post
is this going to take effect everywhere? man i was not going to renew WIC becuase i am off dairy becuase my LO is reacting to it---if we can get produce and WG bread that would be SOOOOO wonderful!
I do believe the foods are generally the same across the board, the brands vary by state. I'm not 100% sure about that but the link I posted made it look like that's the case.

As for taking effect, I am fairly sure it's January here in Michigan, but I'm hearing that in professional circles, not as a client. Although when we switched to debit cards from paper coupons a few months ago there was no warning, clients just came in for appointments and were given debit cards.
post #9 of 65
11/19/08 at 5:03pm
Wow. These have been a long time in the making. I remember giving input when my five-year-old was a toddler.

I may even consider going back on.
post #10 of 65
11/19/08 at 5:11pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by MSUmama View Post
Although when we switched to debit cards
thats so strange! I'm pretty sure Ohio still uses cupons. I saw a lady yesterday with WIC and the cashier was filling out a little grey form. Those cards with the chips would make the grocery line a little faster
post #11 of 65
11/19/08 at 5:24pm
Thread Starter 
Oh the debit cards rock!!! You can purchase a single item or your entire month, or anything in between.
post #12 of 65
11/19/08 at 7:41pm
I hope that this is implimented soon here. We still have not gotten the farmer's market checks yet. Man I wish we had debit cards.

love and blessings
angie
post #13 of 65
11/19/08 at 8:09pm
I'm so glad to hear the WIC program is changing! Thanks for sharing that info!
post #14 of 65
11/19/08 at 8:21pm
I live in Ga, i don't know if my area just doesn't offer it,or if it's just us?? but we don't get any market fresh veggies or anything like that. Just standard milk, juice, cheese, eggs, occasional cereal or peanut butter.

I wish I could find out when/IF Georgia is going to get with the new program!
post #15 of 65
11/19/08 at 8:29pm
FINALLY!!!! : I only wish it were like this when I was on WIC. My younger daughter has dairy allergies so WIC did us not good for her, although it did feed the members of our family who don't have food sensitivities.
post #16 of 65
11/19/08 at 8:42pm
Looks like great changes! I was part of a pilot program where we got $5/month of produce in addition to the juice- here it looks like you can get all produce instead of juice.

But, oh my goodness- that's a LOT of baby food- fully BF 5-11mos get 2 jars of veggies a day PLUS a jar of meat PLUS infant cereal? None of my kids ever at that much baby food, and certainly not as young as 5mo or as old as 11mo- we went through maybe 3-4 jars a week at the most! If I was on the fence about supplementing with formula, that extra baby food package would NOT be much of an incentive for me- the amount of infant cereal and fruits/veggies they now offer to WIC FF babies would more than cover our actual use.

I suspect, if I got that kind of a WIC package when DS was an infant, I'd be getting lots of fruits for the whole family (including myself) to mix into yogurt. I can't even imagine what we'd do with baby food meat (and we couldn't use it anyway, unless they offered a kosher option, and quite honestly I'm not sure that kosher pureed meats even exist- certainly many stores that take WIC don't carry them.) If I could have used the checks to get raw meat instead it would have been put to good use.
post #17 of 65
11/19/08 at 9:04pm
Awesome changes!! I'll have to be sure to ask them about it at my upcoming appt on Friday! Of course I dont' qualify for bf'ing benefits since my DD is over 1...but we're planning on a 3rd...so...
post #18 of 65
11/20/08 at 1:23am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Ruthla View Post
If I was on the fence about supplementing with formula, that extra baby food package would NOT be much of an incentive for me- the amount of infant cereal and fruits/veggies they now offer to WIC FF babies would more than cover our actual use.
I think this is true of most moms on MDC. I also know that most of my clients go through TONS of jarred food. Many brag about their LO's consumption of 3-4 jars daily. Honestly, it's not what I have done, or would do but to each her own. I know some who have had their food stamps cut for one reason or another and called me panicked about how much they spend on jarred food and how they are going to pay for it. Honestly, I think in the mainstream world feeding lots of jarred baby food is celebrated as much as having a baby who drinks an 8 oz bottle of formula or sleeps through the night in a crib. None of those things seem natural or even rational to me but it is what it is. This is how most American moms mark milestones through babyhood....
post #19 of 65
11/20/08 at 1:32am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Jemmind View Post
I live in Ga, i don't know if my area just doesn't offer it,or if it's just us?? but we don't get any market fresh veggies or anything like that. Just standard milk, juice, cheese, eggs, occasional cereal or peanut butter.

I wish I could find out when/IF Georgia is going to get with the new program!
Here in MI we have Project Fresh through the summer months. We get $20 worth of $2 coupons to use at the Farmer's Market. It's not automatic though, you have to go in and sign up and there are a limited number of booklets available, though our WIC office doesn't usually run out. Organics are allowed with project fresh coupons, which is sooooo nice!!! Some of our Farmer's Markets have new token programs for food stamps too! You go to the token booth and purchase tokens using your food stamp card then you use the tokens at the vendor of your choice, as long as they participate.

Georgia will be getting with the program, as will all 50 states, the new food options came from USDA. I am pretty sure they have 18 months to implement and I think, but am not sure, that clock started ticking sometime in '07?
post #20 of 65
11/20/08 at 1:44am
Quote:
Originally Posted by MSUmama View Post
Many brag about their LO's consumption of 3-4 jars daily
That would be me. She's a hungry baby....what can I say?

And on a side note, I called WIC (I live in Texas), and they didn't know anything about extra food packages.
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Mothering › Forums › Breastfeeding › Lactivism › New WIC packages to promote exclusive BF?!?!?!?!