04/11/08 Murray leads effort to get spuds in WIC

Farm and Ranch April 11, 2008 Once again Washington Senator Patty Murray is going to bat for Washington potatoes, this time to make them more available for low income families. The USDA recently published an interim rule updating the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, commonly called WIC. That rule would include more fruits and vegetables in the WIC program but it excludes white potatoes. Senator Murray gathered support from fellow Senators and sent a letter to the chairs and ranking members of the conference committee currently addressing the farm bill. In urging inclusion of potatoes in WIC, the letter states that it is illogical that the USDA has excluded from the final WIC package a vegetable that contains at least four of the vitamins that are inadequate in the American diet. Chris Voigt, Executive Director of the Washington State Potato Commission was among those recently in Washington D.C. seeking support for potatoes in WIC. Voigt: "The great thing about this is that potatoes are so nutritious. They are already affordable. So populations at risk for poverty and poor nutrition, potatoes are great product for them to include in their diet and they are cheap and they are nutritious. Currently, over 50 percent of all infants born in the U.S. each year and 25 percent of all young children participate in the WIC program. Washington's other Senator, Maria Cantwell, also signed Murray's letter. That's the Northwest Farm and Ranch Report. Brought to you in part by the Washington State Potato Commission. Nutrition today! Good health tomorrow! I'm Bob Hoff on the Northwest Ag Information Network.