THE POTATO ISSUE CONTINUES TO BOIL

As part of their attempt to get Congress to mandate that WIC offer white potatoes, industry lobbyists claim that WIC participants can purchase white potatoes at farmers’ markets but not grocery stores. WIC participants cannot use their monthly fruit and vegetables vouchers to purchase white potatoes at grocery stores or farmers’ markets.  But some WIC participants can buy white potatoes using coupons they receive once a year through the very small, separate Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), which was established in 1992 to provide fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables to WIC participants and to expand use their use of farmers’ markets.  At that time, WIC did not offer fruits and vegetables. There is no federal restriction on the purchase of white potatoes using FMNP coupons at farmers’ markets. The two programs are not comparable—WIC participants annually receive about $650 million in fruit and vegetable vouchers, FMNP participants received about $15 million last year.

 

Source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 5/15/14, Potatoes; Poverty and Policy, 5/19/14, More Potatoes