Starting May 1, many farmers will for the first time accept Fruit and Vegetable Coupons (FVCs) through the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) program at D.C. farmers markets. Unfortunately, as this blog has mentioned here, here, and here, the new program already came up against obstacles. The most regrettable, perhaps, was the one-time training. If farmers missed that back in March, they missed the chance to accept FVCs at market.
With the starting date just a month away, the next challenge we see is marketing to WIC participants.
Outreach is a matter in which states vary widely. New York offers a good model, with plans to put up posters, mail brochures, and produce a video about the FVCs to show in WIC offices. Meanwhile, D.C.’s Department of Health gave little attention to marketing the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, and have not responded to questions about how they are spreading the word on the FVCs.
There are steps that community members can take. The facts we have so far already inspired ideas. At Food for All’s suggestion, FRESHFARM Markets sent a letter to the D.C. Department of Health urging a smoother implementation of farmer training, as did Ward 6 Councilmember Tommy Wells’ office.
To gather more facts, community members could build on a national knowledge base. The Community Food Security Coalition, in creating its June 2009 report on the WIC and Senior Citizens farmers market nutrition programs, made connections with health and agriculture officials all over the country. To find out about the FVC, others could use the coalition’s contacts with WIC farmers market programs in New York, Georgia, Iowa, Oregon, and Ohio—states with progressive approaches to implementing the programs–to find out the impacts and challenges of the newer program.
This is where D.C. Food for All members could come in, checking in to gather information on the FVC training, marketing, and management for these states. This could inspire suggestions for improvements in the District.
Interested in finding out what these officials have to say? Want to make a video or other materials to spread the word to WIC recipients? Have a desire to visit a WIC assessment center to talk to WIC clients? Join the Food for All farmers market Google group to learn more and share your ideas.
Hi everyone,
The D.C. WIC Agency scheduled a second training for farmers interested in accepting WIC and FMNP vouchers. That training is set for April 15, 1 to 3 p.m. If you want to register, please email me at kroberts@dchunger.org — I’d be happy to pass your name on to the Agency.
The D.C. Farmers’ Market Collaborative meets monthly at D.C. Hunger Solutions. Anyone is welcome to attend and discuss outreach/publicity about the new WIC cash value checks — and publicity for markets generally. Please contact me if you’d like to attend a meeting, and/or if you’d like to be added to our email list to keep up with farmers’ market news and opportunities to help.
Additionally, the Farmers’ Market Collaborative (in cooperation with the WIC Agency) is creating a handy, at-a-glance guide to the four federally-funded nutrition benefits that residents can use at District markets. This guide will be available for all farmers and market managers as a quick-reference to have on hand at their cash registers. (It also might prove a useful model for other states in the future — as the June 2009 CFSC report notes, only about half the states have elected to include farmers’ markets this year as vendors for the new fruit & vegetable checks included in the WIC food package.) Contact me if you would like a copy.
Thanks, and I hope to hear from many of you soon!
-Kristin Roberts, D.C. Hunger Solutions
kroberts@dchunger.org; 202.986.2200 x3041