Feed the children.
The Associated Press is reporting that the USDA has expanded the shopping list for the Woment, Infants and Children program to include more fruits, vegetables and whole grains. The idea is to try to get those on the public dole to try to eat healthier. OK, I’ll buy that, but I find the following quote from the Associated Press Article just a bit disturbing:
The grocery shopping list for the far-reaching Women, Infants and Children program is getting its first significant update since the 1970s. Fruits, vegetables and whole grains are being added to the program, which helps feed more than half the babies born in the U.S. (emphasis mine) To cover the cost, WIC will pay for less of the juice, eggs, cheese and milk that have been staples of the program.
Now, let me get this straight, the majority of children in the United States are born to women who qualify for WIC assistance? The article goes on to state that some 8 million people nation wide get WIC assistance. The last time I checked, the population of the United States is about 300 million which means that 8 million is roughly 2.5% of the population. Am I to believe that 2.5% of the population includes the majority of infants and children under the age of five? Something doesn’t add up. Furthermore, am I to believe that the majority of children in this country are born to families of four who earn $37,000 or less a year? Something is rotten here.
If the claim that WIC really does assist feeding more than half the children born in the US is true, that leads to another issue; since when does a government program, originally designed to help the truly poor and indigent, supply food to the majority of the child population? How is that the government’s job? Why was it allowed to expand so? Perhaps there is massive fraud. Perhaps there are middle class and wealthy people taking advantage of loopholes in the program. Perhaps the entire WIC program needs to be reviewed and curtailed or done away with.
I am truly shocked that, according to this article, more than half the children in America get some form of public assistance to meet their basic food needs. I am not sure that I believe that claim, but if those who administer the WIC program do, there is something rotten and it isn’t the cheese and milk.