WIC food package deadline slippage

While produce industry advocates like Lorelei DiSogra of United Fresh Produce Association were hoping for a spring/summer timetable for the interim final USDA rule on revisions to WIC food packages to include fruits and vegetables, the USDA has already pushed that expectation back. In fact, the USDA said in its regulatory agenda published in the Federal Register that their internal deadline is September of next year. (It's a massive document, so you might want to keyword search for RIN: 0584-AD77) DiSogra said that Agriculture Secretary Mike Johanns indicated to her and other nutrition advocates in a pre-Christmas meeting that more than 56,000 comments were received about the rule to add fruit and vegetable vouchers to the WIC food packages. Some nutrition advocates were surprised to hear Johanns tell them that more people have been in his office opposed to the proposed rule than supporting it. While it seems unlikely that an Agriculture Secretary from Nebraska could be the best hope for changing the WIC food packages in 30 years, that may well be the case. Let's hope he steps up to the table and does the right thing for America's needy women and children by next fall.