The WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Voucher - Produce for Better ...

market (Cincinnati, Cleveland, and Columbus) at 98 cents, and they are mostexpensive in San Francisco and North Florida (Jacksonville and Orlando)at $1.24. A WIC mother could buy 9.1 pounds of apples at national averageprices, but would be able to buy 10.3 pounds in Cincinnati and only 8.1pounds in Jacksonville.These results indicate that participants in higher priced markets can purchasesubstantially smaller amounts of fruits and vegetables, even for items thatdisplay modest differences between the highest and lowest priced markets.Thus, while the voucher allows substitution between cheaper and more expensivefruits and vegetables, price variations mean that the WIC voucher buyssubstantially smaller amounts of many of the 20 fruits and vegetables studiedin some markets than in others.ConclusionRevising the WIC packages to include a fixed-value voucher for fruits andvegetables aims to encourage WIC participants to consume more fruits andvegetables, potentially decreasing both short- and long-term health risksfaced by pregnant and postpartum women, infants, and children. By examiningaggregate categories of food at the regional level, previous researchhas shown that food prices vary substantially across the country. The presentstudy shows that the prices of individual fruits and vegetables vary even moreat a more localized level. This price variation implies that WIC participantsin higher cost areas cannot purchase as many fruits and vegetables with theirfixed-value voucher as participants in lower priced areas, which could leadto differences in the nutritional benefits that the voucher is intended to makeavailable for WIC participants.12The WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Voucher: Does Regional Price Variation Affect Buying Power? / EIB-75Economic Research Service/USDA