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Shane Crary-Ross spent her childhood summers at farm camp, where her favorite activities were cow milking and bread baking. These days, she studies economics and social work at New York University, and spends her free time gardening, bicycling and reading science fiction.

The Community Food Security Coalition (CFSC) has recently released an exciting report about a new opportunity for clients of WIC, the Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, to use their benefits at farmers’ markets. Back in December of 2007, the USDA published a new WIC food package rule that increased the variety of WIC-approved foods with an increased focus on nutritional quality and expanded cultural food options. State agencies have until October to phase in changes, so the deadline is fast approaching!

An especially exciting aspect of the new WIC package is the inclusion of cash value vouchers (CVVs) for fruits and vegetables, ranging from $6 (children) to $10 (breastfeeding women) monthly. States have the option of authorizing farmers to accept the CVVs at farmers’ markets and roadside stands, making it possible for mothers on WIC to feed their families nutritious produce and bolster their local economies at the same time.

Of course, the vouchers’ value is small and many WIC participants already use their benefits to buy local, sustainable food – the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program(FMNP) has been a huge success, both economically and nutritionally. According to the CFSC, in 2008, 2.3 million WIC participants received FMNP benefits, providing over $20 million in revenue for small farmers in the same year. The new CVVs would expand this substantially, reaching about three and a half times the participants and creating a revenue stream of a whopping $500 million for fresh fruits and vegetables.

The CFSC report points to New York City as the best example of the FMNP’s success.  Since the program began in 1992, farmers’ markets accepting FMNP vouchers (as well as food stamps) have sprouted up in northern Manhattan, the Bronx and Brooklyn, capturing the demand created by more than $1 million in FMNP coupons distributed in those neighborhoods, and increasing the availability of fresh, local food for all community members, not just WIC recipients. It makes sense, then, that New York was the first state to begin accepting the new WIC CVV checks, with Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, New Jersey and Arizona on their heels. A number of other states plan to implement the program in 2010, but many have no plans to implement or even consider it in the foreseeable future.

Given the success of the Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program and the potential this suggests for the CVV program, why wouldn’t a state want to implement it? Although its end result is a sort of magnified version of the FMNP’s, its larger size means that it’s a more complicated and strictly regulated program. For example, while FMNP coupons are valid for the entire season, WIC participants must use their CVVs within 30 days of issuance. Farmers accepting FMNP coupons can deposit them like regular checks in most states, but must manually put their WIC number on every CVV they deposit, and in some states must also check serial numbers electronically. Training requirements are more stringent, and there just may not be the infrastructure there to support the program, despite its great potential.

What’s to be done? Opportunities like this one — to improve nutrition in low-income communities and support sustainable agriculture at once – don’t come up every day. The CFSC suggests simplifying the CVV program, and exploring the integration of the CVV program with the FMNP. They call on state agencies to find ways for WIC clients not participating in the FMNP to access information about farmers’ markets, and facilitate CVV trainings for farmers. To find out how your state is doing, check out their report, or get in touch with your local WIC agency.