House Approves WIC Farmers Market Program

The Missouri House this week gave first round approval to a bill that will add recipients of the Women, Infants and Children Nutrition Program (WIC) to those eligible to receive vouchers to be used at Farmers Markets. HB 652, sponsored by Rep. Martha Stevens (D-Columbia), allows the Department of Agriculture to apply for a grant to allow pregnant and postpartum women to buy fresh produce from these vendors using WIC vouchers. The bill also allows a tax credit for those individuals who want to establish urban farms in food desert areas in urban cities.
 

The MCC supports this legislation as a way of improving the diets of low-income pregnant and postpartum families. The House must give final approval to the measure before it goes over to the Senate.