Guest guest Posted December 28, 2003 Report Share Posted December 28, 2003 hi all, i pretty murch lurk around but i have a concern/question. i am of modest means and i currently receive food stamps and i was thinking of applying for wic. with a little research i was disappointed to find out that that wic does not allow soymilk due to the fact that they consider it nutritionally inferior to cow's milk even though soymilk is fortified with vitamin D, B12 etc. i found this particularly interesting because, coreect me if i'm wrong, wic does allow soymilk formula. now this pretty much seems like hogwash and just reeks of discrimination and i was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with dealing with this. is there a way to get around this? are there any movements/petitions regarding this matter? should i just sign up and get all the vegetarian stuff and give away the offending items to family and or neighbors? comments please... Photos - Get your photo on the big screen in Times Square Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 WIC is reconsidering their package currently & soymilk is an item that they are considering adding. I don't have a link currently & I think that the open comment period may have recently ended, but I would inquire about any upcoming modifications to the package. I agree that there are some " industry " lobbying efforts going on that make a big difference in what is offered. Christa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 Hembadoon wrote: << i was disappointed to find out that that wic does not allow soymilk due to the fact that they consider it nutritionally inferior to cow's milk even though soymilk is fortified with vitamin D, B12 etc.>> We could certainly get into quite a discussion about how the poorest families, the ones most in need, are relegated to the worst foods available, usually surplus crops! And the definition of nutrition is set by the producers of that agricultural surplus, no less. Would a doctor's note declaring you allergic and/or lactose-intolerant make a difference? That's the only suggestion I've got. Unfortunately, it's hard to fight from the bottom of the power ladder. Liz Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 Greetings, I have some experience with WIC. Hubby and I are foster parents and foster children (at least in our state) pretty much automatically qualify for WIC assisstance. Yes, it's true, they don't cover soymilk. When our foster daughter turned a year old they wanted me to take her off of her expensive formula and put her on whole milk. They do pay for organic cow's milk, but that was not something we were comfortable with. Our child came into care due to a severe weight problem, she was diagnosed as Failure to Thrive and was very tiny. We had no problem putting weight on her with a mostly vegan diet. Most pediatrician's (or so it seems to me), reccommend whole milk when a child turns one, unless they are already plenty robust. Even the whole fat soymilk doesn't come close to having the same amount of fat in it as whole cow's milk. So, since they didn't want to pay for the formula any longer I began purchasing the Baby's Only Toddler Organic Soy Formula and mixing it with Enriched Vanilla Soy Dream. This way she's getting more fat than on just soy milk alone. Also, it helped to assure she was getting all of her nutritional needs met when she was still not eating a lot of solid foods. The organic formula is between $10 and $13.00 a can where we are--not cheap for sure, but less than the Nutramagin she was on before that the WIC program was picking up. So, I'm not sure if this helped much, because I didn't make an issue of them not covering soymilk due to my child's needs for extra fat content. I suspect however, that that could become an issue they might push should someone campaign for them to cover soymilk--the lower fat content, that is. As for the extra stuff they try to give you such as eggs and cereal and such, I was already purchasing most of those things for her (not any eggs however) in organic brands which were not covered. I opted to discontinue from the program as we were not in a position of financial need and I wanted to make those resources available to other families who really needed them. My suggestion would be to only purchase what you will personally use and need. In our state WIC funds are partly government funded, but also by private contributions to charitable organizations. Just to clarify, if I remember correctly, the ONLY thing WIC would cover that is organic is cow's milk. Please let me know if I can clarify any points on that for you. Shelley " The animals of the world exist for their own reasons. They were not made for humans anymore than black people were made for white, or women created for men. " --Alice Walker Author, The Color Purple >Hembadoon Foluke <ayiti_cherie > > > wic >Sat, 27 Dec 2003 16:09:30 -0800 (PST) > _______________ Check your PC for viruses with the FREE McAfee online computer scan. http://clinic.mcafee.com/clinic/ibuy/campaign.asp?cid=3963 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted December 31, 2003 Report Share Posted December 31, 2003 I don't know how to tell you to get around it. But I can tell you that there is a connection between the dairy industry, farming industry, and wic. Many of the foods that are supplied are surplus from the dairy industry. If this has changed I am sure someone will correct me. Are you able to buy soymilk with the food stamps? I thought you could have both food stamps and wic? Not sure what state you're in so maybe it is different here in OH. One way to get around it may be to tell them you are lactose intolerant. I am sure they have exceptions for allergies. Let us know what you find out. Peace! Joann --- Hembadoon Foluke <ayiti_cherie wrote: > > hi all, > > i pretty murch lurk around but i have a > concern/question. i am of modest means and i > currently receive food stamps and i was thinking of > applying for wic. with a little research i was > disappointed to find out that that wic does not > allow soymilk due to the fact that they consider it > nutritionally inferior to cow's milk even though > soymilk is fortified with vitamin D, B12 etc. i > found this particularly interesting because, coreect > me if i'm wrong, wic does allow soymilk formula. now > this pretty much seems like hogwash and just reeks > of discrimination and i was just wondering if anyone > has had any experience with dealing with this. is > there a way to get around this? are there any > movements/petitions regarding this matter? should i > just sign up and get all the vegetarian stuff and > give away the offending items to family and or > neighbors? comments please... > > > > > Photos - Get your photo on the big screen in > Times Square > > [Non-text portions of this message have been > removed] > > > Find out what made the Top Searches of 2003 http://search./top2003 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted January 30, 2004 Report Share Posted January 30, 2004 If you can get your child's/children's pediatrician to write a letter stating that an allergy is involved and that the ped considers the soy milk just as nutritious as the cow's milk, you may get the folks at WIC to allow the soy milk. Five years ago I had no luck with this but since then I have known of a couple of mom's who were successful using this avenue. Good luck. God's Peace, Gayle - " Hembadoon Foluke " <ayiti_cherie Saturday, December 27, 2003 7:09 PM wic > > hi all, > > i pretty murch lurk around but i have a concern/question. i am of modest means and i currently receive food stamps and i was thinking of applying for wic. with a little research i was disappointed to find out that that wic does not allow soymilk due to the fact that they consider it nutritionally inferior to cow's milk even though soymilk is fortified with vitamin D, B12 etc. i found this particularly interesting because, coreect me if i'm wrong, wic does allow soymilk formula. now this pretty much seems like hogwash and just reeks of discrimination and i was just wondering if anyone has had any experience with dealing with this. is there a way to get around this? are there any movements/petitions regarding this matter? should i just sign up and get all the vegetarian stuff and give away the offending items to family and or neighbors? comments please... > > > > > Photos - Get your photo on the big screen in Times Square > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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