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  • From: Sabina F Swift <sabina AT hawaii.edu>
  • To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>
  • Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Food stamps, WIC program and credit card acceptance
  • Date: Tue, 03 Jan 2006 13:43:39 -1000

Willie,
What does the acronym WIC stand for?
Happy New Year!
Sabina

Sabina F. Swift
Assistant Specialist



----- Original Message -----
From: Willie McKemie <mf AT austinfarm.org>
Date: Tuesday, January 3, 2006 1:17 pm
Subject: Re: [Market-farming] Food stamps, WIC program and credit card
acceptance
To: Market Farming <market-farming AT lists.ibiblio.org>

> On Tue, Jan 03, 2006 at 12:10:22PM -0900, Mike Emers wrote:
> > WIC vouchers represent about 10%-15% of our farmers' market
> sales, an
>
> I, too, am most appreciative of the WIC dollars I've received.
>
> However, the WIC farmer's market program in Texas has evolved into
> primarily a peddler's subsidy and is a subverting influence on
> honest
> farmers. Here is how it goes:
> The program is administered by the Texas Department of Health with
> bureaucrats that, for the most part, have little empathy for
> honest
> farmers and little understanding of the conflict between honest
> farmers
> and peddlers. In the Dept of Health's view, high redemption rates
> are desirable. They cut funding to areas that have low redemption
> rates and fund areas that have high redemption rates. Anyone see
> where
> this is going? The low redemption rate areas are likely to be
> those
> served only by honest farmers markets and the high rate areas are
> likely to be served by peddler markets. When the areas whose
> funding
> has been cut or threatened seek advice from the program
> administrators,
> the advice is along these lines: "Keep your markets open year-
> round,
> longer hours, more days, etc", "Sell what your customers want: out
> of
> season tomatoes, out of season peaches, never in season bananas, etc".
> In the areas where peddlers markets coexist with honest markets,
> the
> peddlers are likely to out sell to WIC customers by a factor of ten.
>
> Here is how I would characterize your typical WIC customer:
> 1) doesn't want to shop early in the day
> 2) doesn't know how to cook, or want to cook
> 3) they want food to be eaten "out of hand", apples, bananas,
> peaches,
> etc.
> Don't get me wrong; we treat our WIC customers very well and we
> attempt
> education. But, it seems hopeless.
>
> --
> Willie, ONWARD! Through the fog!
> http://counter.li.org Linux registered user #228836 since 1995
> Debian3.0/GNU/Linux system uptime 17 days 3 hours 26 minutes
> _______________________________________________
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>
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>
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fn:Sabina F Swift PhD
tel;fax:(808)956-9675
tel;work:(808) 956-9208
org:University of Hawaii Manoa;Plant and Environmental Protection Sciences
adr:;;3190 Maile Way St John 307;Honolulu;Hawaii;96822;USA
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email;internet:sabina AT hawaii.edu
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