Instacart, National WIC Association Team Up to Help Ensure Every Mother and Child Can Access Nutritious Food

Fifty years ago, the first program office for the nation’s Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children—better known as WIC—opened its doors to new and expecting mothers in rural, southeastern Kentucky. In the half-century since, the program has helped tens of millions of women, babies, and young children across the nation access nutritious foods, breastfeeding support, and nutrition education. Today, one in every two babies born in the United States is supported by the WIC program. 

The program’s impact over the past half century has been profound. Research shows that WIC participation leads to more nutritious diets, healthier babies, and improved cognitive development for young children. WIC updates in 2009 have contributed to healthier food environments in low-income neighborhoods. And WIC is, in a sense, the nation’s original “food as medicine” program, helping lower healthcare costs for participants and reducing the likelihood of adverse birth outcomes for both infants and high-risk mothers.

That’s why we’re thrilled to announce Instacart is joining the National WIC Association’s Business Council, expanding our commitment to support the organization in their tireless WIC education and advocacy work. As the nation’s leading grocery technology company, we share the National WIC Association’s commitment to ensuring every woman and child has access to the nutritious food they need, and we’re proud to become the first voice representing the grocery technology sector among NWA’s Business Council Partners.

We’re especially energized to join the council on the heels of several important WIC developments this year. 

First, Congress approved a funding increase of over $1 billion for the WIC program, ensuring that all existing WIC beneficiaries continue to receive their benefits and, equally importantly, that the program has sufficient funding to welcome new participants in the year ahead. We commend the bipartisan policy leaders who championed this funding expansion and helped shepherd it through Congress. 

A month later, USDA released new rules giving WIC participants access to a wider array of foods based on the latest nutritional science. The new rules also give state WIC agencies more flexibility to tailor food packages for different dietary needs and cultural preferences. Instacart was proud to provide comments to USDA as the agency developed these new rules, and we applaud the department for making these important reforms to support women and children. 

These were critical steps for the immediate future of the WIC program—and there’s still more work to be done. 

For starters, across the public and private sectors, we must continue to expand WIC education initiatives and make it easier to enroll. Right now, only half of eligible individuals are enrolled in WIC, and as a result, millions of women, infants, and young children aren’t getting the nutritional support they need. We must do more to get the word out—and to make it easier for eligible mothers and children to enroll and stay in the program. Congressional leaders have introduced bills that would help address some hurdles, including a measure to allow WIC participants to enroll and recertify benefits remotely, rather than a mandatory in-person appointment. That could be especially beneficial for women in rural communities, working mothers, and those who face transportation barriers. 

In addition, unlike the SNAP program, WIC benefits cannot be used online. WIC participants must buy groceries in person, which can make shopping harder, especially for women facing transportation barriers or mobility challenges. We’ve seen firsthand how unlocking online access can be a game-changer. As the first grocery platform to bring SNAP online in all 50 states, Instacart partnered with No Kid Hungry and the University of Kentucky to study the impact of online grocery shopping for families living with low incomes. The study found that grocery shopping online can help low-income families save time, manage their budgets, adopt healthier eating habits, and avoid feelings of stigma associated with using government assistance programs in person.

The good news: USDA has proposed a new rule that could allow mothers to use WIC to shop online, giving WIC participants the same access afforded to SNAP participants. While we believe the proposed rule must go further to streamline the grocer enrollment process and bring the program online more quickly and efficiently, USDA’s proposal was a monumental step forward. At the same time, lawmakers at the state level, including New Jersey, are also taking early steps to unlock online grocery access for WIC participants.

We applaud USDA and policy leaders at every level who are working so hard to modernize the program—and we look forward to collaborating more closely with the National WIC Association to support their efforts to ensure anyone who needs the program can access it.

A half-century after the program began, it’s more important than ever to take bold new steps to strengthen and modernize WIC. If we do, we will help ensure the next generation of mothers and children can access the nutritious food they need.

Dani Dudeck

Author

Dani Dudeck is the Chief Corporate Affairs Officer at Instacart.