Why won’t the government pay for HEALTHY items

amother

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 12:10 pm

WHEN ITS EXACTLY THE SAME PRICE OR CHEAPER?
Example on Wic - milk- either you get regular milk or oat milk - but the only oat milk covered is the sweetened and flavored one. The unsweetened oat milk that costs exactly the same is uncovered. It’s as if they WANT you to have the extra sugar.
Take yogurt- only the regular not healthy yogurt is covered. Can’t get the unsweetened versions etc etc

amother

Offwhite

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 12:18 pm

Well, I happen to agree with the responses so far. But be warned OP: you're going to get a barrage of posts from people who have more money than you yelling that beggars can't be choosers and how dare you complain about the kindness the government so kindly gives you.

Trademark

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 12:20 pm

amother Offwhite wrote:

Beggars can't be choosers is a reality of life. It's not about daring to complain, if you want a specific food then she can use her own money.

Reality

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 12:23 pm

While I agree that beggars can't be choosers, BUT it's lobbyists who have oversized input in these decisions.

The US government talks out of two sides of it's mouth. It claims it wants to promote healthy food choices. Then the healthy choices are juice, cereal and many other processed unhealthy foods.

amother

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 12:34 pm

Trademark wrote:

Beggars can't be choosers is a reality of life. It's not about daring to complain, if you want a specific food then she can use her own money.

Hon, can we try to stay focused on my question? Why does wic cover only the sweetened sugar unhealthy stuff when they can easily cover the healthy stuff? Do they purposely want us to be unhealthy?
Let’s leave the entitled, bratty ,appreciate wic , don’t be on wic, your too poor , your too rich for a spin-off. Rolling Eyes

Thanks

amother

Navy

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 12:52 pm

I don't know if there's a good answer without getting conspiratorial, but I've long ago learned not to outsource my health or food choices to the government. They simply dont have our best interests in mind. We never qualified for WIC, but I completely get your frustration OP.

amother

Jasmine

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 1:07 pm

amother OP wrote:

Thanks

The premise of OPs question is faulty. It doesn’t only cover sweetened stuff.

amother

Eggshell

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 1:12 pm

amother OP wrote:

I totally get this
But just saying we get large plain Greek yogurts (super healthy) on wic. I use it in smoothies and add my own sugar

ETA I do agree that certain foods/ drinks they sometimes only let the unhealthy version. Example- grapejuice, I would love to get light grapejuice

chanatron1000

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 1:13 pm

Trademark wrote:

Beggars can't be choosers is a reality of life. It's not about daring to complain, if you want a specific food then she can use her own money.

It's not about wanting a specific food, it's about wanting the government program intended to promote healthy eating to promote healthy eating.

amother

Oatmeal

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 1:21 pm

amother OP wrote:

Teah, sime of their rules aren't the smartest. In NY you can only get soy milk if allergic to dairy- no plant based milks. Soy is something we try to avoid too much of because of hormones...
You can only get plain fat free/low fat yogurt. We like to use the whole Milk unsweetened yogurt. Once a child is 2, you can only get low fat milk because obesity in America. But my child was off the charts underweight but still no red milk because they're trying to fight obesity. It's a pity that they are so set in their ways about certain things without looking at the unique situation, but I've learned to purchase what I can use and be thankful for that and ignore all the things we don't want/need.

amother

Jasmine

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 1:24 pm

chanatron1000 wrote:

It's not about wanting a specific food, it's about wanting the government program intended to promote healthy eating to promote healthy eating.

It’s not intended to promote healthy eating. It’s to provide nutrients to people who may otherwise not be able to afford it.

amother

Burgundy

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 1:28 pm

amother OP wrote:

The focus is on the young children and the nutrients these little children need. They look for high nutrition and high mineral/vitamin counts and not so much the sugar and fat count. Sugar and fat is not so unhealthy for the little ones as it is for older children and adults (I.e. little kids need fat for brain development). So if the intent of the program is to ensure that children get their nutrition needs met, it makes sense that they focus on that.

Quite often the low sugar/low fat items are lower in nutrition as well. So while they can probably do a bit better in choosing their selection, their focus makes sense.

Also, they choose the selection based on whats readily available to most people. In poorer sections, low fat-low sugar options are not so readily available. So thats another consideration

amother

Babypink

Wed, Jun 28 2023, 1:52 pm

It has already been determined that OP is wrong as unsweetened yogurt is permitted.

Almond milk is a gray area. For most poor children, using whole cow milk would be the best way for them to maximize protein and calories - which are important factors in the choice of foods. Unsweetened almond milk is lower in calories and for the age which WIC is supplementing would not add up to the calories that the toddler should optimally be getting.

Absent an allergy to cow milk, it is probably healthier to have a child drink cow milk with fat until 2.

Also the many of people who are using WIC are in areas where even getting food is an issue because they are in so-called "food ghettos" - neighborhoods in which there are no large grocery stores and so there are only small relatively expensive small stores. Many of them don't sell much in the way of fresh produce - don't sell in larger cheaper quantities and probably don't stock any almond milk.