WIC provides free food, nutrition education, breastfeeding support, and healthcare referrals to low-income pregnant women, new mothers, infants, and children up to age five. The program is federally funded through the U.S. Department of Agriculture and covers specific nutritious foods designed to fill common nutritional gaps during pregnancy and early childhood.
Who Qualifies for WIC
WIC serves five categories of people: women who are currently pregnant, postpartum women (up to six months after the end of a pregnancy), breastfeeding women (up to the infant’s first birthday), infants, and children up to their fifth birthday.
To qualify, your household income must fall at or below 185 percent of the federal poverty level. For the period from July 2024 through June 2025, that means a family of four can earn up to $57,720 per year. A single person qualifies at $27,861, and a family of two at $37,814. Each additional household member adds roughly $9,953 to the limit. If you already receive Medicaid, SNAP, or TANF benefits, you automatically meet the income requirement.
Beyond income, applicants must be found to have a nutritional risk. This is assessed at your local WIC office and can include things like an inadequate diet, low iron levels, being underweight or overweight, or a history of pregnancy complications. The assessment typically involves a brief dietary recall where staff evaluate your eating patterns and food group consumption.
Foods Covered by WIC
WIC doesn’t work like SNAP, where you can buy almost any grocery item. Instead, it provides a defined package of nutrient-dense foods tailored to each participant category. The core food groups include:
- Fruits and vegetables: Purchased with a monthly Cash Value Voucher (CVV). Fresh produce is always covered, and most states also authorize frozen, canned, or dried options. Fresh herbs are now eligible too.
- Milk and dairy: Includes regular and lactose-free milk, yogurt, and cheese. Plant-based milk alternatives, soy-based yogurts, and plant-based cheeses are available as substitutions.
- Whole grains: Whole wheat bread, brown rice, oatmeal, tortillas, and a wide range of options including quinoa, wild rice, millet, teff, buckwheat, naan, pita, English muffins, and bagels. Breads must contain at least 50 percent whole grains.
- Breakfast cereal: Low-sugar, whole grain varieties. At least 75 percent of cereals on each state’s approved list must have whole grain as the first ingredient, with a cap on added sugars.
- Eggs and protein: Eggs, dried and canned legumes (beans, lentils), peanut butter, and in many states, nut and seed butters or tofu as substitutes.
- Canned fish: Salmon, sardines, light tuna, and mackerel. This now covers children ages one through four as well as pregnant, postpartum, and breastfeeding women.
- Juice: 100 percent fruit or vegetable juice, though participants can swap their juice benefit for an extra $3 in fruit and vegetable credit instead.
- Infant formula and baby food: Iron-fortified infant formula for babies who are not breastfeeding, plus infant cereals, baby food fruits, vegetables, and meats.
How Much You Get for Fruits and Vegetables
The monthly CVV amount for produce varies by category. Children ages one through four receive $24 per month. Pregnant and postpartum women receive $43. Fully or partially breastfeeding women get $47. These amounts are adjusted annually for inflation. White potatoes, once excluded, are now permanently eligible, and you can buy any package size of fresh fruits and vegetables as long as they contain no added sugars, fats, or oils.
How Benefits Work at the Store
WIC benefits are loaded onto an eWIC card, which looks and works like a debit card. You set a PIN when you receive it, and anyone with the card and PIN can shop for WIC foods at authorized retailers. There’s no name printed on the card, and stores cannot require photo identification.
At checkout, the register scans each item’s barcode against your state’s Approved Product List. If an item isn’t WIC-approved or you’ve already used that category’s monthly benefit, the register will flag it. You can use self-checkout lanes, and stores must accept manufacturer coupons and loyalty cards on WIC purchases just as they would for any other transaction.
Nutrition Education and Counseling
Every WIC participant receives nutrition education as part of the program. This typically involves brief counseling sessions at your WIC appointment, either in person or online. Topics cover healthy eating during pregnancy, introducing solid foods to infants, meal planning on a budget, and building balanced diets for toddlers and preschoolers. The guidance is personalized based on the nutritional risk factors identified during your assessment.
Breastfeeding Support
WIC provides breastfeeding support through peer counselors, who are mothers with their own breastfeeding experience trained to help with common challenges like latching difficulties, milk supply concerns, and returning to work while nursing. The program also helps participants find breast pumps at low or no cost. Fully breastfeeding women receive the largest food package, including more fruits, vegetables, and additional protein, as an incentive and nutritional support.
Healthcare and Social Service Referrals
WIC offices connect participants with other programs and services they may qualify for. This includes referrals to prenatal and postpartum medical care, pediatric checkups, immunization services, Medicaid, SNAP, and other community resources. These referrals happen on an ongoing basis, not just at enrollment, so if your needs change over time, your local WIC office can help point you to the right services.
What Varies by State
The federal government sets the framework, but individual states have some flexibility in how they run WIC. States choose which specific brands appear on their approved product lists, whether to authorize frozen and canned produce in addition to fresh, and whether to offer options like tofu or nut butters as substitutions. This means the exact items you can buy may differ depending on where you live. Your local WIC office or state WIC website will have the specific approved product list for your area.