One great change in the food that families receive from WIC is vouchers for fruits and vegetables. The amount of the voucher varies, but as I understand it, each child on WIC old enough to eat table food gets a $6 voucher each month. Amanda and I headed to the grocery store last Friday to see what $6 would buy. We were in luck because lots of fruits and vegetables were on sale. 

The first two pictures show a variety of fruits and vegetables purchased for $6. We tried to get the most food we could, but also tried to get a variety of colors in both fresh and frozen foods. Some of the foods were priced by the item—celery, carrots, grapefruit, cucumbers, bell peppers, spinach and frozen vegetables. Other items—bananas, apples and onions—must to be weighed (there is always a scale in the produce department) and you have to take the weight times the price per pound to see how much the item costs. If you have your cell phone, use the calculator on it to do the math for you.

Picture #1
3# bananas  .87
1 celery stalk  .69
2 bell peppers/1 cucumber  3 for $1
2# yellow onions  .58
1# bag baby carrots  .79
3 grapefruits  3 for $1
16 oz bag frozen veggies  .98

TOTAL  $5.90

Picture #2
2# large braeburn apples  1.38
2 bell peppers/1 cucumber   3 for $1
2# bananas   .58
1# bag baby carrots  .79
16 oz bag frozen veggies  .98
Dole Spinach  .99

TOTAL  $5.72

The last four pictures show how the price of fruits and vegetables goes up when you choose specialty products, or the grocery store does some of the food preparation work for you.

Picture #3
Each 12 ounce package of vegetables costs $2.50.  So these two packages together cost $5.  Since the Green Giant vegetables have a butter sauce, they can’t be bought with WIC coupons.

Picture #4
The Green Giant vegetables at the left cost $2.50.  The Birds Eye Vegetables were on special for $1.00.  Both are 12 ounces.  Neither has a sauce.

The frozen vegetables in the first 2 pictures  above are .98 for 16 ounces.

Picture #5
If you want  someone else to chop up your vegetables, you pay dearly for that service.

Picture #6
Same goes for cantaloupe.  You get 2 whole cantaloupes for $6. The cut up bowl would cost $8.22.

-pointers by Peggy