Food Programs and the Potato

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is one of USDA's major food assistance programs. WIC is authorized under the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010. Major changes in the supplemental food packages were introduced in 2009 based on recommendations of a committee of the National Academies' Institute of Medicine (IOM). One of the innovative program changes implemented at that time was the introduction of a cash value voucher (CVV) to supplement the purchase of fruit and vegetables for qualifying participants. All fresh fruit and vegetables qualified for purchase with the CVV except "white potatoes." More specifically, white-fleshed potatoes. In 2014, Congress requested that USDA review the exclusion of potatoes; and at the request of USDA, a new IOM committee reviewed the regulation excluding white potatoes. Based on its review, the IOM committee issued a report in February 2015 that recommended that fresh white potatoes no longer be excluded from the food packages offered by WIC. Under the Consolidated and Further Continuing Appropriations Act, 2015, WIC agencies will begin to allow white potatoes no later than July 1, 2015. So why were white potatoes singled out for exclusion in 2009 and what changed? These questions highlight the role of efforts to align science and dietary guidance with effective program design. The challenge has been to make the guidance on dietary patterns better align with what foods people are eating and in what forms.