Policy & Practice | Fall 2023

federal insights

Moving Forward: One Step Closer to WIC Online Shopping

The following is a Q&A with Rebecca Piazza , the Senior Advisor for Delivery at the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Food and Nutrition Service. Q: The Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) is taking some major steps to modernize both the shopping experience for WIC (Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children) participants and also to continue some of the major changes that SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) beneficiaries have seen. Tell us more about what the agency is doing. Rebecca Piazza: The way Americans shop and pay for food is changing, with options like online shopping, curbside pickup, and delivery becoming more popular. People like these options because they make food more accessible and ease the burden of busy family life. FNS believes WIC participants deserve an equitable and safe shopping experience equivalent to people shopping with other payment types. Online shopping is now available in all 50 states for SNAP ( https://www.fns.usda.gov/ news-item/fns-010.23) and eventu ally, WIC customers will have access to the same seamless experience of shopping from home. FNS has spon sored a pilot program to test online shopping for WIC and has proposed a rule—a necessary formal step to make improvements to the program—to remove barriers to online ordering, such as the requirement that partici pants complete WIC transactions in

SNAP can only be used to purchase eligible food items (not toiletries, for example, or hot, prepared foods), WIC works through a prescribed food package that may specify the brands and quantities of food items you can buy. So while there are differences between both SNAP and WIC, benefi ciaries of both programs have shared experiences and challenges when it comes to negotiating a shopping trip or deciding on their purchases. The proposed rule would encourage state agencies to issue electronic benefits remotely and mail Electronic Benefits Transfer (EBT) cards when possible, potentially reducing the number of required in-person visits to clinics by WIC participants. This is a con venience SNAP customers already have, as SNAP EBT cards are typically

the presence of a cashier. The rule also encourages state WIC agencies to allow for issuing benefits remotely, when possible, which saves participants the time of traveling to a clinic. Q: How would these changes benefit participants? RP: The current in-person WIC shopping requirements can be chal lenging for families, particularly those with limited access to trans portation, such as families who live in rural communities or who do not live near public transit. Even with transportation, shopping in person with infants or small children can be challenging and online shopping provides a convenient alternative for families. WIC also operates differently than other programs like SNAP. While

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Policy & Practice Fall 2023