Participants in the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) may soon see a temporary increase to their benefits for the purchase of fruits and vegetables. With $490 million provided by the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021, USDA has offered states, tribal nations and territories the option of boosting the cash-value voucher benefit by more than three times the current amount for up to four months to provide additional relief during this difficult time.

The cash-value voucher allows participants to purchase fruits and vegetables as part of their WIC food package. Under normal circumstances, the monthly cash-value voucher is $9 per child and $11 for pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women. The American Rescue Plan allows state agencies to temporarily provide up to $35 per child and adult, per month. These additional funds will increase the purchasing power of WIC participants so they can buy and consume more healthy fruits and vegetables.

USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) notified WIC state agencies of this option on March 24, 2021. State agencies that have opted-in are beginning to distribute the increased benefits as early as this month and may continue to do so for up to four consecutive months between now and September 30, 2021. A list of the state agencies that have opted-into the increase can be found on the FNS website at www.fns.usda.gov/wic/state-agency-elections-temporary-cvv-benefit-increases-arp-2021.

Recently, USDA has maximized economic relief for struggling families by taking administrative action on SNAP emergency allotments by targeting an additional $1 billion per month to roughly 25 million people. Last week, USDA issued flexibilities that will allow schools and childcare institutions to serve healthy meals for free to all kids in the upcoming 2021-2022 school year. On Monday, USDA expanded the Pandemic-EBT program to reach more than 30 million children over the summer months.