Dairy groups fight WIC rule change

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Dairy groups fight WIC rule change

Two dairy groups are fighting a proposed change that would reduce access to milk for families in the Women, Infants and Children program.

Matt Herrick is with the International Dairy Association. He says, “This is a major setback, not only for WIC, but for all the nutritional good that dairy does for mothers and children.”

Herrick tells Brownfield that the proposed rule change would allow some flexibility to exchange milk for yogurt and provide some flexibility in container size, but the reduced cash benefit for purchasing milk doesn’t help families get the nutrition they need. “If you’re 12 months old or 23 months old, the current WIC allowance allows a family to buy up to sixteen quarts of milk for that child per month, and this proposed rule would essentially cut that down by four quarts. .”

Herrick says he’s working with other groups, including the National Milk Producers Federation, to try to stop the USDA’s proposed new WIC rule. “It’s hard to make an argument when 90 percent of the country consumes little dairy according to dietary guidelines.”

The comment period for the proposed rule opens next month.