WIC stands for Women, Infants, and Children. It's a government program that serves to bring healthy foods into the homes of lower-income children, infants, and pregnant or nursing women.
How do you sign up for WIC? The application process in my area went like this: I dropped in to set up an appointment, for the following week. My WIC office is only open two days a week, Monday and Tuesday. The initial evaluation was about half an hour - they wanted proof of pregnancy for me, plus pay stubs and social security cards, and my son's immunization form. They weighed him, weighed me, and then asked some of the options I wanted (canned vs frozen juice, dried vs canned beans). Then, they issued checks for two months. Sometimes they can be issued for three months. We also got a gold card with our signatures on it, same size as a credit card, to verify to the cashiers that we are the person who is supposed to use the benefits.
What do we get with WIC? My two year old son gets 4 or so gallons of 1% or skim milk, up to 36 oz (2-3 boxes, depending) of cereal, a jar of peanut butter, loaf of whole wheat bread, one pound of cheese, 2 cans of beans, a box of brown rice, and two bottles of 100% juice, as well as a $6 fruit/vegetable voucher. I get the same, but $10 for vegetables, and cans of tuna when I was breastfeeding. Since I was unable to breastfeed longer than 2 months due to emergency surgeries, however, my monthly package ends at 6 months postpartum. My infant son gets about 3/4 of his monthly supply of formula covered, as well.
How does it work? We get a folder with checks every time we have an appointment, every 2 months. My two year old, N, gets about 5 checks, most have 3-4 items on them. Nearly every check has milk on it, so that perishable items don't have to be purchased all at once. Mine are similar. My infant son, E, gets 3-5 checks, each with 2-3 cans of powdered formula on them. Each check requires a separate transaction at checkout, and each item must match up to the check. Checking out can take a long time, and I tend to only use 2 checks so that people behind me don't get angry, but it still happens. This requires many trips to the supermarket throughout the month, but I live about 100 yards from a full grocery store so this works well for me.
Why blog about it? To reduce the stigma. To educate other people about the program, and to help other moms stretch their benefits with great, tasty recipes they can make for themselves and their kids.
