Cutbacks in food allotments for the poor
Phillips, Maxine
MARKETS AND MORTGAGING THE FUTURE Headlines in late spring announced that at least half the states had started cutting government food allotments in the WIC program (Special Supplemental...
...Food advocates hope that those allotments can be increased so that the same drama will not be repeated next year...
...Under the not-very-generous new plan, states could borrow up to 3 percent against next year's allotments...
...In California the state planned to give children ages three to five less than a glass of juice a day (144 ounces a month instead of 268 ounces) and eliminate vouchers for cheese...
...Would that those mothers and children denied sustenance had such choices...
...On the same day that the New York Times gave extensive coverage to these cuts, the front page of its business section noted that new products were "clogging" food stores...
...MARKETS AND MORTGAGING THE FUTURE Headlines in late spring announced that at least half the states had started cutting government food allotments in the WIC program (Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants, Children), which provides milk, cereal, cheese, and juice for poor women and children, or had cut them altogether...
...But then, the "invisible hand" of the market only stocks the shelves...
...It doesn't have to serve the food...
...Opposition to the cuts mobilized so that by the end of June a bipartisan compromise sailed through Congress...
...While the haggling was going on, we're sure that the housekeepers of our elected representatives were overwhelmed by the many choices available in the local supermarkets...
...Meanwhile, babies in Texas were facing a cut in their cereal allowances from 36 ounces a month to 24 ounces and pregnant women whose diets were inadequate but who didn't show signs of clinical malnutrition were being excluded from the program...
...For many, the Times noted, the debate about limiting choices "strikes at the heart of the free enterprise system...
...Retailers were complaining (for instance, about the 200 new oat bran products or the 1,348 new dairy products or the 913 beverages introduced last year) that the failure of so many products cut into their profits and drove food prices up...
...These programs, which serve nearly one-third of all babies born in the United States, are universally acknowledged to be cost effective in preventing health problems...
...The reason for the cut: the rising cost of food meant that states had already spent their allotments...
...Government officials blamed high costs on droughts affecting feed grain, freezing of citrus crops, and increased consumer demand for high-fiber cereals, while also acknowledging that federal policy encourages farmers to kill cows rather than have a surplus of dairy products...
...q 424 • DISSENT...
Vol. 37 • September 1990 • No. 4
