The WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Voucher - Produce for Better ...
The WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Voucher - Produce for Better ...
The WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Voucher - Produce for Better ...
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United StatesDepartmentof AgricultureEconomicIn<strong>for</strong>mationBulletinNumber 75May 2011A Report from the Economic Research Servicewww.ers.usda.gov<strong>The</strong> <strong>WIC</strong> <strong>Fruit</strong> <strong>and</strong> <strong>Vegetable</strong><strong>Cash</strong> <strong>Voucher</strong>Does Regional Price Variation AffectBuying Power?Ephraim Leibtag, eleibtag@ers.usda.govAylin Kumcu, akumcu@ers.usda.govAbstract<strong>The</strong> Special Supplemental Nutrition Program <strong>for</strong> Women, Infants, <strong>and</strong> Children (<strong>WIC</strong>)provides supplemental foods to low-income women, infants, <strong>and</strong> children at nutritionalrisk. Since October 2009, <strong>WIC</strong> packages have included a fixed-value voucher <strong>for</strong>purchasing fruits <strong>and</strong> vegetables. Although this should help increase fruit <strong>and</strong> vegetableconsumption <strong>for</strong> all <strong>WIC</strong> participants, regional price variation could lead to differentbuying power—<strong>and</strong> nutritional benefits—across the country. Using 2004-06 NielsenHomescan data, the authors examine the prices of fruits <strong>and</strong> vegetables (fresh, frozen,<strong>and</strong> canned) in 26 metropolitan market areas to determine how price variations affect thevoucher’s purchasing power. <strong>The</strong> authors find that the 20 most commonly purchased fruits<strong>and</strong> vegetables cost 30-70 percent more in the highest priced market areas than in thelowest, implying that <strong>WIC</strong> participants in more expensive areas might be able to purchasefewer fruits <strong>and</strong> vegetables than those living where these items are cheaper. <strong>The</strong> lowestpriced market <strong>for</strong> fruits <strong>and</strong> vegetables was the Nashville, Birmingham, Memphis, <strong>and</strong>Louisville area, while the highest was San Francisco.Keywords: <strong>WIC</strong>, fruit <strong>and</strong> vegetable voucher, fruit <strong>and</strong> vegetable prices, NielsenHomescan, geographic price variationAcknowledgments<strong>The</strong> authors would like to thank Helen Jensen, Professor of Economics, Iowa StateUniversity, Tatiana Andreyeva, Director of Economic Initiatives at the Rudd Center <strong>for</strong>Food Policy & Obesity at Yale University, <strong>and</strong> Elizabeth Frazao, Economic ResearchService, USDA, whose recommended changes greatly improved the report. <strong>The</strong> authorswould also like to thank Abebayehu Tegene, Elise Golan, <strong>and</strong> Laurian Unnevehr ofUSDA’s Economic Research Service <strong>for</strong> their comments on various drafts of the paper,Courtney Knauth <strong>for</strong> editorial assistance, <strong>and</strong> Curtia Taylor <strong>for</strong> design services.
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