Healthier Food for WIC Participants in Alabama? It’s at the Drive-Thru

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Latinos comprise 41 percent of participants in the Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) food assistance program.

The WIC program in Mobile County, Alabama has been working to encourage participants to use their food assistance to purchase healthy food for their families and to stay away from junk. In fact, Mobile’s program, one of the largest in the state, was responsible for infusing more than $11 million into the county in the form of vouchers for fresh fruits and vegetables last year, among other healthy food choices. Now they are working to make healthy eating even more convenient.

The WIC program at the Mobile County Health Department opened the state’s first drive-thru window Wednesday, Oct. 22, at the Southwest Mobile Health Center. WIC participants that don’t need to be seen by a provider will be issued the fruit and vegetable vouchers without leaving their car. Mobile County WIC was awarded special U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) funding in 2014 for the innovative concept in service delivery.

“It isn’t always easy for new moms to get out of the car with an infant at a doctor’s office,” said Elizabeth Smith, Nutrition Director for the WIC program in Mobile County, in a Fox10 news story. “We hope this drive-thru window will offer a more convenient way to encourage nursing mothers and their young children to make healthy choices when it comes to the foods they choose.”

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