In 1992, Congress established the Women’s, Infants, and Children Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (WIC FMNP) to help low-income people use their benefit coupons—often referred to as “food stamps—to purchase fresh food from farmers’ markets. The program is premised on what seems like a win-win situation: It makes it easier for those who lack resources to buy healthy food, and it brings additional revenue to farmers who accept the benefits. But over the past decade of operating in DC, has the WIC FMNP actually won its battle to improve access to nutritious food and conquer food deserts?
Data from the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service indicate that implementation of the WIC FMNP may be more complicated than it seems. Take the WIC FMNP data for DC as an example. Between 2004 and 2013, the number of markets, farmers and stands in DC that accept WIC benefits more than doubled, from 53 to 112.
Source: USDA Food and Nutrition Service, http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-fmnp-profiles-grants-and-participation.
However, in the same span of time, both the number of WIC FMNP benefit recipients in DC and the total amount of money the federal government granted for WIC FMNP benefits declined.
Source: USDA Food and Nutrition Service, http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-fmnp-profiles-grants-and-participation.
Source: USDA Food and Nutrition Service, http://www.fns.usda.gov/wic/wic-fmnp-profiles-grants-and-participation.
What’s the story behind these mismatching trends? One possibility is that the farmers’ markets in DC aren’t located in areas that are convenient for many of the city’s residents who rely on nutrition assistance benefits. DC Hunger Solutions reports that Wards 7 and 8 are the highest poverty sections of the District, but there are only nine farmers’ markets in these wards combined (compared to 18 in Wards 2 and 3). Even if more DC farmers’ markets are accepting WIC benefits, these markets aren’t necessarily geographically accessible to many who use those benefits.
Map image from http://www.americangraduatedc.org.
Mobile farmers’ markets, like BusFarm/Farm to Family and Arcadia Mobile Market, are working to solve this problem by bringing healthy local produce directly to underserved communities in DC. The Arcadia Mobile Market, for example, reported that almost half of the total dollar amount of the fresh produce it supplied in 2010 was purchased with nutrition assistance benefits.
Another possible explanation for the decline in WIC FMNP dollars and recipients is a cut in federal funding of the program. A 2012 federal appropriations bill cut funding for the program by more than 25 percent, according to the Economic Policy Institute, and once that funding has been cut, it is difficult to build it back into the national budget.
However, there are some signs that lawmakers are working to shore up support for and participation in WIC FMNP. On August 7th, for example, the DC Department of Health is hosting the “Get Fresh” Festival at the FreshFarm Market by the White House to promote WIC FMNP benefits. Promising events like a grilling competition and a baby fruit and veggie costume contest, the festival aims to generate awareness of and participation in the WIC FMNP. Between efforts like this one, mobile farmers’ markets, and the establishment of more farmers’ markets in places where they’re needed most (such as the new Ward 8 Farmers’ Market), DC’s WIC FMNP could go from stagnant to thriving—and it could make a difference in the health of many around the District.
The Capital's Markets 