IFPA Responds to House Proposal to Reduce WIC Produce Benefits

June 6, 2025

Washington, DC - The International Fresh Produce Association (IFPA) issued the following statement after the House Appropriations Agriculture Subcommittee voted to move forward its Fiscal Year 2026 Agriculture, Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies funding bill on June 5. The bill reduces the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) cash value benefit (CVB) by 10 percent for fruits and vegetables in 2026 with the goal of an eventual slash in benefits from $54 per month for women and $27 per month for children, to a mere $13 and $10, respectively – a cut of almost 75 percent.

“The committee’s proposed bill would cut $100 million from WIC in 2026 and create a pathway to an eventual $1 billion reduction in fruit and vegetable benefits WIC provides for young children and pregnant and post-partum mothers. On the heels of the president’s Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) Commission report that recognized the health effectiveness of WIC’s fruit and vegetable benefit, we are deeply troubled that the committee is choosing this path. These proposed cuts would have serious consequences for connecting farm-fresh produce to low-income women and children — populations already at increased risk for diet-related health disparities.

“The current benefit amount is consistent with the 2017 National Academy of Science’s recommendations to increase fruit and vegetable consumption. As a result, young children participating in WIC have consumed more fruits and vegetables daily, while growers have experienced a wider variety of fruits and vegetables being sold through the program than when the benefit was at lower amounts. At a time when nearly half of U.S. children do not eat a daily vegetable, reducing WIC benefits would undermine national nutrition initiatives and contradict bipartisan efforts to increase fruit and vegetable consumption, improve dietary quality, and support farmers.”

IFPA Responds to House Proposal to Reduce WIC Produce Benefits

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