ASU alumna advocates for the future of WIC, a food assistance program

5 minutes

 

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a federal program that assists low-income pregnant women and mothers with children under the age of five.

Autumn Byars, a Hunger Advocacy Fellow with ELCA World Hunger and recent ASU alum, has always been familiar with the program — even before starting her fellowship. 

The Byars family had relied on WIC for as long as she could remember — since she and her brother were kids. 

“I remember grocery shopping with my mom and looking for the little purple and white logos of a woman holding an infant, standing with a small child that marked what foods WIC benefits could be applied to,” she said. “I know that was a time that was stressful for my parents, but being able to access fresh foods to feed our family definitely took some pressure off.”

Byars said she remembers her parents being stressed about money and grad school schedules and caring for two small children, but she never went hungry. She never had to forgo seconds at meals or skip lunch at school, or worry about an empty fridge. 

WIC has helped many families like the Byars — providing at-risk families the access to food and necessities. The program also has structures in place to help new families and mothers.

“I am so lucky to have been in that position; there are still so many kids who do go hungry,” she added.

WIC has helped many families like the Byars — providing at-risk families the access to food and necessities. The program also has structures in place to help new families and mothers.

Byars, who graduated from ASU in Spring 2023 with a degree in Painting, learned about her fellowship through LinkedIn. As a result of this connection, she is now paying the support she received growing up forward by helping others. Byars said she is passionate about helping other families who can benefit from these programs and initiatives and grateful for the opportunity that her fellowship has provided to contribute to this important work.

“Families with infants receive vouchers to buy formula, and baby food, and many WIC clinics provide resources and assistance for breastfeeding mothers. Pregnant women receive vouchers for nutritionally dense foods, like fresh vegetables and whole grains, which is shown to increase infant birth weight and decrease the risk of preterm delivery. Each child under five is also allocated a certain amount in vouchers,” Byars said. 

The WIC Program is especially important because these benefits are specifically used to purchase nutritiously rich whole foods.
 
“Most of the time, highly processed, unhealthy foods are much cheaper. Look at the shelves of a grocery store, and you will see that frozen dinners, white breads, meat full of preservatives, and so on, are much, much cheaper than whole wheat breads, fresh vegetables, and whole ingredients,”Byars said. “This condemns those struggling with poverty to poor health outcomes solely because of a lack of resources. This is an especially egregious thing when small children aren’t able to access the nutrition that their developing bodies need.”

WIC is widely considered by advocates to be the most successful nutrition program that the U.S. offers over SNAP, The National School Lunch Program and The Food and Nutrition Service.

Byars explains that WIC participation improves birth outcomes, cognitive development in small children, growth rates, and performance in school. WIC is also cost-effective: for every dollar spent on the program, the country saves $3.13 in medicaid costs. In several states, including Arizona, WIC vouchers can also be used at local farmer’s markets, which helps to bolster our local food systems. Moreover,  in 2022, 7 million people participated in the WIC program. 52% of the babies born in the US are served by the program and over 30% are born already enrolled in the program.

Success aside, the program is currently in danger. For decades, both WIC has received bi-partisan support from Congress, with enough funding to assist eligible people who apply, and the funding for this program increased during the pandemic. 

Despite the increased need for the program, many members of the U.S. House of Representatives are now proposing cutting the program to the same level of funding it had before the pandemic. 

“This would mean that for the first time in decades, WIC would be forced to waitlist families and stretch their resources thinner. Furthermore, even if funding levels stay the same, several of Arizona’s rural counties– where WIC is very much relied upon– will no longer be able to participate in the program because it will be too costly to run. The WIC program needs $1.4 billion total to keep functioning the way it was designed to. That is a tiny percent of our national budget,” says Byars.

Back in October, the Senate passed several agriculture appropriation bills, giving WIC all the funding it needs; however, for the money to actually be secured, both the House and Senate have to agree on the size of the appropriations. 

“The House has been struggling quite a bit this year; this particular assembly has had a difficult time agreeing about much of anything, especially where money is concerned. If members of the House insist on cutting WIC funding, then the Senate may be forced to negotiate for a lower amount,” says Byars. 

For those interested in helping secure WIC funding, Byars urges her peers and others to contact their Congressional representatives. To locate your representative, visit www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative and enter your address.

“It doesn’t matter if you’re an Arizona voter, or you’re registered in another state, or if you’ve never actually voted before. Your voice matters!” Byars said. “I cannot stress that enough: my whole job is helping realize how powerful and important their voices are. Your voice matters so much more than you realize.” 

Write, email, or call your congressional representative– if you do not know who your representative is, visit www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative and enter your address. If this issue is something you care about, tell your representative that you want them to vote in favor of an appropriations bill that fully funds the WIC program!