This memorandum seeks to ensure that current Food and Nutrition Service guidance pertaining to federal civil rights and nondiscrimination obligations remains aligned with applicable laws, regulations, executive orders and directives relevant to the agency’s 16 nutrition assistance programs.

This is a new information collection for the Waivers and State Plans (WiSP) application.

This notice sets forth the interpretation that the U.S. Department of Agriculture uses for the term “Federal public benefit” as used in Title IV of the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996. In doing so, this notice supersedes any prior interpretation in any notice or other document issued by any USDA agency. This notice also describes and preliminarily identifies the USDA programs that provide “Federal public benefits” within the scope of PRWORA.

This guidance provides resources that state agencies may use when considering next steps and set forth instructions for submitting state plan amendments that involve operational changes such as electronic solution proposals and/or WIC FMNP waiver requests.

Pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding women, infants, and children up to age 5 are eligible. They must meet income guidelines, a state residency requirement, and be individually determined to be at "nutritional risk" by a health professional.

FNS recognizes that many state agencies may benefit from guidance regarding the existing flexibilities allowable within current FMNP and SFMNP regulations and has compiled some of these flexibilities for state and local agencies to consider.

The FMNP is associated with the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, generally known as WIC. The WIC program provides supplemental foods, health care referrals and nutrition education; including, breastfeeding promotion and support at no cost to low-income pregnant, breastfeeding and non-breastfeeding postpartum women, and to infants and children up to 5 years of age, who are found to be at nutritional risk.

This webinar will focus on strategies for ways to advertise and market farmers markets to SNAP clients.

This policy memorandum transmits changes from the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights regarding the appropriate nondiscrimination statement to use on Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) materials. This policy memorandum supersedes, Civil Rights Memorandum, USDA Nondiscrimination Statement Update, dated May 24, 2013, and the last issued FMNP Policy Memorandum 2010-1 dated April 15, 2010. 

The purpose of this memorandum is to provide guidance on the implementation of Section 361 of the HHFKA, Full Use of Federal Funds, in the WIC Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program.