WIC Food Package Cost Report, FY 2010

The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) distributes federal grants to state agencies for providing supplemental foods, nutrition education including breastfeeding promotion and support, and health care and social service referrals to nutritionally at-risk, low-income pregnant, breastfeeding, and nonbreastfeeding postpartum women, infants, and children up to age 5. The federal costs of WIC in fiscal year (FY) 2010 totaled $6.7 billion, $4.6 billion of which were food costs. Food costs averaged $41.44 per month per participant. This report estimates the average monthly food costs for each of 5 WIC participant subgroups and estimates total dollars spent on 17 major categories of WIC-eligible foods in FY 2010. The participant and food level costs in this report are USDA’s first estimates since implementation of the 2009 WIC food package changes.