USDA Improves the WIC Shopping Experience to Better Serve our Nation's Low-Income, New and Expecting Mothers and Their Young Children

Press Release

Today, Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack announced a major step to make it easier for participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) to access nutritious foods. The WIC Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) Final Rule will improve the shopping experience for WIC participants by requiring states to transition from paper benefits to EBT systems by Oct. 1, 2020, as required by the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Secretary Vilsack made this announcement during a speech at the 2016 National Anti-Hunger Policy Conference, hosted by the Food Research & Action Center and Feeding America, in Washington, DC. The Secretary was joined at the conference by Dorothy McAuliffe, First Lady of Virginia and a champion of child nutrition programs. Virginia is one of 12 states and 4 tribal nations that have already competed the transition to EBT for distributing WIC benefits.

"USDA's WIC Program has a longstanding history of improving the health of low-income women, infants and children at nutritional risk," said Vilsack. "EBT is widely recognized as the optimal method of food benefit delivery, allowing WIC participants to shop conveniently and check out confidently. This final rule is one of many ways we continue to collaborate with states and other stakeholders to significantly improve the delivery of WIC benefits and protect the integrity of the program."

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