Food and Nutrition Service December 2009 – Federal Register Recent Federal Regulation Documents

This rule increases the amount of cash value vouchers from $8.00 to $10.00 issued to pregnant, postpartum and partially breastfeeding women participants for the purchase of fruits and vegetables as part of the WIC food packages. In the ``WIC Food Package'' interim rule published December 6, 2007, the Department was not able to provide all women participants fruit and vegetable cash value vouchers at the level recommended by the National Academies' Institute of Medicine (IOM). To be cost neutral, only fully breastfeeding women were provided the IOM recommended amount of $10.00 per month fruit and vegetable cash value vouchers; all other women participants were provided $8.00 per month fruit and vegetable cash value vouchers. This rule amends the interim rule to provide all Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) women participants with $10.00 per month fruit and vegetable cash value vouchers, consistent with IOM's recommendations. The Fiscal Year 2010 Agriculture Rural Development, Food and Drug Administration, and Related Agencies Appropriations Act (Pub. L. 111-80), enacted on October 21, 2009, provides the funding for this increase.

The final rule entitled Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC): Vendor Cost Containment was published on October 8, 2009. The Office of Management and Budget cleared the associated information collection requirements (ICR) on November 2, 2009. This document announces approval of the ICR.

This notice announces the surplus and purchased foods that the Department expects to make available for donation to States for use in providing nutrition assistance to the needy under The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) in Fiscal Year (FY) 2010. The foods made available under this notice must, at the discretion of the State, be distributed to eligible recipient agencies for use in preparing meals and/or for distribution to households for home consumption.