Researchers at Public Health Foundation Enterprise-WIC in partnership with the University of California Nutrition Policy Institute released a policy brief showing results of an increase in over $50 million across California on fruits and vegetables purchased by California families enrolled in WIC from June-September 2021. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a USDA-funded program that provides healthy foods to low-income pregnant and postpartum women, infants and children up to age 5. The vegetables and fruits in the WIC food package are issued as a “Cash Value Benefit” (CVB), enabling families to buy a variety of vegetables or fruits up to the CVB amount. CVB amounts for all women and children on WIC were raised to $35 per month from the usual $9 or $11 from June-September 2021 with funding from the 2021 American Rescue Plan Act. Congressional appropriations have enabled monthly CVB amounts to continue at $24 for all children and $43 or $47 for women, depending on their pregnant or lactating status, through March 31, 2022. NPI and PHFE-WIC researchers showed that nearly all of 1,673 Southern California WIC participants in surveyed reported the $9 value to be insufficient, whereas over three-quarters reported the $35 value to be just right. This project was funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation's Healthy Eating Research Program.

Current recommendations encourage caregivers of young children to delay the introduction of sugar-sweetened beverages–beverages with added sugars such as soda, sweetened fruit drinks like lemonade, sweetened teas, and sports drinks–until after the child turns two-years old. A new study published in the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior by University of California researchers further supports this. When researchers evaluated the diet of over 2200 young children across the nation enrolled in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants and Children–also known as WIC–they found that those given SSBs during the first two years of life had lower diet quality at three years old. In contrast, the researchers found that delaying the introduction of 100% fruit juice during the first two years of life was not associated with lower diet quality. Study authors include Isabel Thompson, Patrick Bradshaw, and Mahasin Mujahid from UC Berkeley, Lorrene Ritchie from the UC Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources, Nutrition Policy Institute, and Lauren Au from UC Davis. Researchers used data from the WIC Infant and Toddler Feeding Practices Study-2, a federal study conducted with funding from the US Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service.

The federal Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) provides supplemental foods, health care referrals, nutrition education, and breastfeeding support to low-income women, infants and children up to age five who are at nutritional risk. The COVID-19 pandemic brought unexpected and unprecedented changes to WIC service delivery in order to protect the health and well-being of staff and participants. Researchers at the Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI) presented two talks at the National WIC Association 2021 virtual annual conference, held online June 15-17, 2021. The first shared results of quantitative and qualitative data collected during the pandemic from WIC participants and WIC local agency directors in California. Results from this study highlight the significant success of the California WIC program in reaching participants and meeting their needs during the COVID crisis and suggest multiple strategies useful for continued program improvements throughout the nation. The second talk shared results from a survey of nearly 50,000 WIC participants in 11 states and 1 Indian Tribal Organization. Researchers shared WIC participant perspectives of what worked well and what was challenging about enrollment, nutrition education, shopping for WIC foods, and use of the WIC card and app(s). The survey also collected suggestions from participants on how they would like to receive WIC services once when it is safe to return in-person to WIC clinics, and how their physical, mental and financial well-being and food insecurity changed during the pandemic. Researchers involved in the studies included NPI's Lorrene Ritchie and Danielle Lee, Georgia Machell of the National WIC Association, private consultant Linnea Sallack, and Shannon Whaley of the Public Health Foundation Enterprises-WIC. The projects were funded by grants from the David and Lucille Packard Foundation; the California study was also funded by the California Department of Public Health.

Rich with quotes from California WIC participants and local agency directors, two new reports and a policy brief highlight the strong consensus that the waivers USDA put in place and the other modifications the state implemented to make WIC responsive to COVID should be incorporated as permanent options in the program. In light of Congress's imminent program reauthorization, these recommendations informed by research conducted by Public Health Foundation Enterprises (PHFE)-WIC and the Nutrition Policy Institute (NPI), part of the University of California's Division of Agriculture and Natural Resources (UC ANR), take on special significance. Researchers collected information on the experiences with WIC during COVID from interviews with 182 WIC participants, 22 interviews with local WIC agency directors and refinement of interpretation from a meeting with 12 WIC agency directors, and finally, recommendations from multiple perspectives shared at a convening of over 20 local, state, and national WIC participants, experts and leaders. The research team included Lorrene Ritchie, Christina Hecht, Nicole Vital, Ron Strochlic, Marisa Tsai, Claudia Olague, Anna Rios, and Ken Hecht from NPI, Lauren Au from UC Davis Department of Nutrition, and Christopher Anderson, Catherine Martinez, Martha Meza and Shannon Whaley from PHFE-WIC. The project was funded by a grant from the David and Lucile Packard Foundation with additional funding from the California Department of Public Health WIC Branch.