[House Hearing, 117 Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]


                      FOOD FOR THOUGHT: EXAMINING
                     FEDERAL NUTRITION PROGRAMS FOR
                       YOUNG CHILDREN AND INFANTS

=======================================================================

                                HEARING

                               BEFORE THE

                            SUBCOMMITTEE ON
                            CIVIL RIGHTS AND
                             HUMAN SERVICES

                                 OF THE

                    COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR
                     U.S. HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES

                    ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS

                             FIRST SESSION

                               __________

             HEARING HELD IN WASHINGTON, DC, JULY 28, 2021

                               __________

                           Serial No. 117-25

                               __________

      Printed for the use of the Committee on Education and Labor

[GRAPHIC NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]                                   

          Available via: edlabor.house.gov or www.govinfo.gov

                               __________

 
                    U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE                    
45-177 PDF                 WASHINGTON : 2022                     
          
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------                               

                    COMMITTEE ON EDUCATION AND LABOR

             ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia, Chairman

RAUL M. GRIJALVA, Arizona            VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina,
JOE COURTNEY, Connecticut              Ranking Member
GREGORIO KILILI CAMACHO SABLAN,      JOE WILSON, South Carolina
  Northern Mariana Islands           GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida         TIM WALBERG, Michigan
SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon             GLENN GROTHMAN, Wisconsin
MARK TAKANO, California              ELISE M. STEFANIK, New York
ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina        RICK W. ALLEN, Georgia
MARK DeSAULNIER, California          JIM BANKS, Indiana
DONALD NORCROSS, New Jersey          JAMES COMER, Kentucky
PRAMILA JAYAPAL, Washington          RUSS FULCHER, Idaho
JOSEPH D. MORELLE, New York          FRED KELLER, Pennsylvania
SUSAN WILD, Pennsylvania             GREGORY F. MURPHY, North Carolina
LUCY McBATH, Georgia                 MARIANNETTE MILLER-MEEKS, Iowa
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut            BURGESS OWENS, Utah
ANDY LEVIN, Michigan                 BOB GOOD, Virginia
ILHAN OMAR, Minnesota                LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
HALEY M. STEVENS, Michigan           DIANA HARSHBARGER, Tennessee
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico   MARY E. MILLER, Illinois
MONDAIRE JONES, New York             VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
KATHY E. MANNING, North Carolina     SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana              MADISON CAWTHORN, North Carolina
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York, Vice-Chair  MICHELLE STEEL, California
MARK POCAN, Wisconsin                JULIA LETLOW, Louisiana
JOAQUIN CASTRO, Texas                Vacancy
MIKIE SHERRILL, New Jersey
JOHN A. YARMUTH, Kentucky
ADRIANO ESPAILLAT, New York
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland

                   Veronique Pluviose, Staff Director
                  Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director
                  
                                 ------                                

            SUBCOMMITTEE ON CIVIL RIGHTS AND HUMAN SERVICES

                  SUZANNE BONAMICI, Oregon, Chairwoman

ALMA S. ADAMS, North Carolina        RUSS FULCHER, Idaho, Ranking 
JAHANA HAYES, Connecticut                Member
TERESA LEGER FERNANDEZ, New Mexico   GLENN THOMPSON, Pennsylvania
FRANK J. MRVAN, Indiana              LISA C. McCLAIN, Michigan
JAMAAL BOWMAN, New York              VICTORIA SPARTZ, Indiana
KWEISI MFUME, Maryland               SCOTT FITZGERALD, Wisconsin
ROBERT C. ``BOBBY'' SCOTT, Virginia  VIRGINIA FOXX, North Carolina (ex 
  (ex officio)                           officio)
                           
                           C O N T E N T S

                              ----------                              
                                                                   Page

Hearing held on July 28, 2021....................................     1

Statement of Members:
    Bonamici, Hon. Suzanne, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Civil 
      Rights 
      and Human Services.........................................     1
        Prepared statement of....................................     4
    Fulcher, Hon. Rich, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Civil 
      Rights 
      and Human Services.........................................     5
        Prepared statement of....................................     6

Statement of Witnesses:
    Burris, Jessica, North Carolina WIC Participant; 
      Breastfeeding Peer Counselor, Montgomery County Department 
      of Health--
      WIC Department.............................................    28
        Prepared statement of....................................    30
    Farrell, Trevor, Senior Vice President and Chief Commercial 
      Officer, Americas, Schreiber Foods, Inc....................    22
        Prepared statement of....................................    25
    Garrett, Paula N., MS, RD, Division Director, Division of 
      Community Nutrition, Virginia Department of Health.........    14
        Prepared statement of....................................    16
    Turner, Teresa L., MS, RD, LDN, SNS, FAND, Nutritionist, 
      Child and Youth Services, United States Army...............     8
        Prepared statement of....................................    10

Additional Submissions:
    Questions submitted for the record by:
        Thompson, Hon. Glenn, a Representative in Congress from 
          the State of Pennsylvania..............................    50
    Response to question submitted for the record by:
        Mr. Farrell..............................................    52

 
                      FOOD FOR THOUGHT: EXAMINING
                     FEDERAL NUTRITION PROGRAMS FOR
                       YOUNG CHILDREN AND INFANTS

                              ----------                              


                        Wednesday, July 28, 2021

                  House of Representatives,
   Subcommittee on Civil Rights and Human Services,
                          Committee on Education and Labor,
                                                    Washington, DC.
    The Subcommittee met, pursuant to notice, at 10:15 a.m., 
via Zoom, Hon. Suzanne Bonamici (Chairwoman of the 
Subcommittee) presiding.
    Present: Representatives Bonamaci, Adams, Hayes, Leger 
Fernandez, Mrvan, Bowman, Scott (ex officio), Fulcher, McClain, 
Spartz, Fitzgerald, and Foxx (ex officio).
    Staff present: Ilana Brunner, General Counsel; Alison Hard, 
Professional Staff; Rasheedah Hasan, Chief Clerk; Sheila 
Havenner, Director of Information Technology; Carrie Hughes, 
Director of Health and Human Services; Ariel Jona, Policy 
Associate; Andre Lindsay, Policy Associate; Max Moore, Staff 
Assistant; Mariah Mowbray, Clerk/Special Assistant to the Staff 
Director; Kayla Pennebecker, Staff Assistant; Veronique 
Pluviose, Staff Director; Banyon Vassar, Deputy Director of 
Information Technology; Cyrus Artz, Minority Staff Director; 
Michael Davis, Minority Operations Assistant; Amy Raaf Jones, 
Minority Director of Education and Human Resources Policy; 
Hannah Matesic, Minority Director of Operations; Eli Mitchell, 
Minority Legislative Assistant; and Mandy Schaumburg, Minority 
Chief Counsel and Deputy Director of Education Policy.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, good morning. We're ready 
to begin. I will count down from five and then we will start. 
Five, four, three, two, one. The Subcommittee on Civil Rights 
and Human Services will come to order. Welcome everyone. I note 
that a quorum is present.
    The Subcommittee is meeting today to hear testimony on 
``Food for Thought: Examining Federal Nutrition Programs for 
Young Children and Infants.'' This is an entirely remote 
hearing, and as such the Committee's hearing room is officially 
closed. All microphones will be kept muted as a general rule to 
avoid unnecessary background noise.
    Members and witnesses will be responsible for unmuting 
themselves when they are recognized to speak, or when they wish 
to seek recognition. If a Member or witness experiences 
technical difficulties during the hearing, please stay 
connected on the platform, make sure you are muted, and use 
your phone to immediately call the Committee's IT director 
whose number was provided in advance.
    Should the Chair experience technical difficulty, or need 
to step away, Mrs. Hayes, or another majority Member is hereby 
authorized to assume the gavel in the Chair's absence. To 
ensure that the Committee's five-minute rule is adhered to, 
staff will be keeping track of time, and using the Committee's 
remote timer.
    The remote timer appears in its own thumbnail and will show 
a blinking light when time is expired. Members and witnesses 
are asked to wrap up promptly when their time has expired. 
Pursuant to Committee Rule 8(c) opening statements are limited 
to the Chair and Ranking Member, and I recognize myself now for 
the purpose of making an opening statement.
    Today we are meeting to examine Federal nutrition programs 
that support young children, and to discuss our opportunity, 
and in fact our responsibility to give all children a healthy 
start in life. This hearing will focus on two key programs, the 
Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and 
Children, or WIC, which serves low-income parents and children, 
and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, or CACFP, which 
serves children and adults in after school and care settings.
    For decades these programs have been essential to the 
healthy development and long-term success of millions of 
children. Each month WIC provides about 6 million people, 
including more than half of all infants, with access to 
tailored nutrition counseling, healthy food prescriptions, 
breastfeeding support, and health screenings and referrals.
    The Child and Adult Care Food Program provides the millions 
of children and adults in childcare and daycare centers across 
the country with healthy meals and snacks. But the full effects 
of the Federal nutrition initiatives cannot be understood 
through numbers alone.
    In my home State of Oregon, I see first-hand the meaningful 
difference these programs make in the lives of our 
constituents. The Oregon Child Development Coalition, OCDC, 
provides childcare, education, and nutrition services to more 
than 4,000 children across the State. In 2009, a study 
analyzing the benefits, and areas for improvement of CACFP 
found that parents rely on the nutrition education, and the 
healthy food provided for their families through the OCDC, 
giving parents more confidence even as prices of food and 
housing rise.
    Providers who were interviewed focused on the need to 
support more children by removing administrative barriers. An 
updated CACFP will allow providers like OCDC to continue care, 
and make sure more children in need can access nutritious foods 
without raising their prices.
    This is just one example of the critical role Federal 
programs play in connecting young children and families with 
healthy food, and vital health services. And despite these 
successes, we know that child hunger, malnutrition and 
inadequate access to care persists in many of our communities, 
particularly in the aftermath of COVID-19.
    Approximately one in three households with children 
struggled with food insecurity in the early stages of the 
pandemic. For households with young children, the lack of 
access is even worse. Within the first weeks of the pandemic 
nearly half of mothers with young children faced food 
insecurity.
    [online recording cut out here] I'm going to say that 
again. Within the first weeks of the pandemic nearly half of 
all mothers with young children faced food insecurity.
    This alarming surge in child hunger demands full action. 
Last year this Committee moved swiftly to strengthen access to 
Federal nutrition of public health programs, by providing key 
flexibilities for WIC, so programs and services could be 
delivered remotely to those in need.
    We temporarily strengthened WIC benefits to help families 
afford fruits and vegetables, and we expanded access to 
nutrition assistance for young people in homeless shelters, 
while securing the need for CACFP providers. These decisive 
steps have helped dramatically reduce rates of food insecurity 
among families.
    Even with these temporary enhancements however, it's 
imperative that we not miss the opportunity to take the lessons 
we learned in the last year to update and bolster child 
nutrition programs. Our work remains unfinished until every 
child, infant, and family in this country has access to the 
basic nutrition they need for a strong start in life.
    Today with the help of our distinguished witnesses, we will 
discuss the next steps to take toward that goal of ending 
hunger. For example, as we work to reauthorize Federal child 
nutrition laws, we must modernize and expand both WIC and the 
Child and Adult Care Food Program. We can invest in updated 
technology to eliminate barriers that still prevent families 
from accessing WIC's lifechanging benefits, and we can expand 
the number of meals covered by the Child and Adult Care Food 
Program, as well as simplify the program's administration so 
that more care providers can participate.
    In addition, future legislative packages must include 
significant investments in WIC and the Child and Adult Care 
Food Program. I applaud President Biden's commitment in the 
American Families Plan to expand affordable, accessible 
childcare. With any investment to expand and strengthen the 
CARE economy, corresponding investments must be provided, early 
childhood nutrition programs.
    As we invest in our physical and human infrastructure, 
basic nutrition support for young children must be a top 
priority. I hope today's discussion will lay a strong 
foundation for our continued work to make certain all children 
and infants have the nutrition they need to succeed.
    I want to thank our expert witnesses again, and now I yield 
to the Ranking Member Mr. Fulcher for his opening.
    Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Madam Chair. Young children and 
nursing or expecting mothers need adequate----
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Excuse me Mr. Fulcher, apparently the 
livestream is down, so we need to break just a minute here. 
We're going to--I've been informed that the livestream is down. 
House rules require that we suspend until it's back up, so 
we're going to pause momentarily.
    [pause]
    All right, so we will reconvene, and I will go back to the 
place, and just finish the end of my opening statement, and 
then I'll turn it over to Mr. Fulcher.
    Today, with the help of our distinguished witnesses we will 
discuss the next steps we must take for the goal of ending 
hunger. For example, as we work to reauthorize Federal child 
nutrition laws, we must modernize and expand both WIC and the 
Child and Adult Care Food Program.
    We can invest in updated technology to eliminate barriers 
that still prevent families from accessing WIC's lifechanging 
benefits. And we could expand the number of meals covered by 
the Child and Adult Care Food Program, as well as simplify 
program administration, so more care providers can participate.
    In addition, future legislative packages must include 
significant investments in WIC and the Child and Adult Care 
Food Program. I applaud President Biden's commitment in the 
American Families Plan to expand affordable, accessible 
childcare. With any investment to expand and strengthen the 
care economy, corresponding investments must be provided to 
early childhood nutrition programs.
    And as we invest in our physical and human infrastructure, 
basic nutrition support for young children must be a top 
priority. I hope today's discussion will lay a strong 
foundation for our continued work to make certain that all 
children and infants have the nutrition they need to succeed.
    I want to thank our witnesses again, and I now yield to the 
Ranking Member Mr. Fulcher for his opening statement.
    [The prepared statement of Chairwoman Bonamici follows:]

 Statement of Hon. Suzanne Bonamici, Chairwoman, Subcommittee on Civil 
                       Rights and Human Services

    Today, we are meeting to examine Federal nutrition programs that 
support young children and to discuss our opportunity, and in fact, our 
responsibility to give all children a healthy start in life.
    This hearing will focus on two key programs:

   The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, 
        Infants, and Children, or WIC, which serves low-income parents 
        and children, and

   The Child and Adult Care Food Program, or C-A-C-F-P, which 
        serves children and adults in afterschool and care settings.

    For decades, these programs have been essential to the healthy 
development and long-term success of millions of children.
    Each month, WIC provides about 6 million people-including over half 
of all infants-with access to tailored nutrition counseling, healthy 
food prescriptions, breastfeeding support, and health screenings and 
referrals.
    The Child and Adult Care Food Program provides the millions of 
children, and adults, in child care and day care centers across the 
country with healthy meals and snacks.
    But the full effects of these Federal nutrition initiatives cannot 
be understood through numbers, alone. In my home State of Oregon, I 
have seen-firsthand-the meaningful difference these programs make in 
the lives of our constituents.
    The Oregon Child Development Coalition, OCDC, provides child care 
education and nutrition services to more than 4,000 children across the 
State. In 2009, a study analyzing the benefits and areas for 
improvement of CACFP found that parents rely on the nutrition education 
and the healthy foods provided for their families through the OCDC, 
giving parents more confidence even as prices of food and housing rise.
    Providers who were interviewed focused on the need to support more 
children by removing administrative barriers. An updated CACFP will 
allow providers like
    OCDC to continue care and make sure that more children in need can 
access nutritious foods without raising prices.
    This is just one example of the critical role Federal programs play 
in connecting young children and families with healthy food and vital 
health services. And despite these successes, we know that child 
hunger, malnutrition, and inadequate access to care persists in many of 
our communities, particularly in the aftermath of COVID-19.
    Approximately 1 in 3 households with children struggled with food 
insecurity in the early stages of the pandemic. For households with 
young children, the lack of access was even worse. Within the first 
weeks of the pandemic, nearly half of all mothers with young children 
faced food insecurity.
    Today, with the help of our distinguished witnesses, we will 
discuss the next steps we must take toward the goal of ending hunger.
    For example, as we work to reauthorize Federal child nutrition 
laws, we must modernize and expand both WIC and the Child and Adult 
Care Food Program.
    We can invest in updated technology to eliminate barriers that 
still prevent families from accessing WIC's lifechanging benefits. And, 
we can expand the number of meals covered by the Child and Adult Care 
Food Program, as well as simplify program administration so that more 
care providers can participate.
    In addition, future legislative packages must include significant 
investments in WIC and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. I applaud 
President Biden's commitment in the American Families Plan to expand 
affordable, accessible child care. With any investment to expand and 
strengthen the care economy, corresponding investments must be provided 
for early childhood nutrition programs. As we invest in our physical 
and human infrastructure, basic nutrition support for young children 
must be a top priority.
    I hope today's discussion will lay a strong foundation for our 
continued work to make certain that all children and infants with the 
nutrition they need to succeed.
    I want to thank our witnesses, again, and I now yield to the 
Ranking Member, Mr. Fulcher, for his opening statement.
                                 ______
                                 
    Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Madam Chair. Young children and 
nursing or expecting mothers need adequate nutrition. The 
better the nutritional status, the more likely both child and 
mother will have safer pregnancies, stronger immune systems, 
and longer lives.
    We also know that good access to food leads to more 
productive learning environments. That's why Federal nutrition 
programs date back to the 1940's. There's a national interest 
in supporting a heathy baseline for future generations. There's 
also a critical role for private partners, including religious 
and other non-profit entities that help provide these services 
to people.
    We saw this last year as we dealt with COVID-19. Today the 
Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the Child 
Nutrition Act authorized both, the Special Supplemental 
Nutritional Program for Woman, Infants and Children, or WIC, 
and the Child and Adult Care Food Program, or CACFP.
    These programs help provide nutrition services to 
vulnerable women and children. Through WIC, the Federal 
Government provides funding to states for the purpose of 
assisting low-income women who are pregnant, breastfeeding, or 
have children up to the age of five.
    State agencies work with tens of thousands of authorized 
retailers, so these vulnerable mothers can purchase certain 
foods such as fruits, vegetables, milk, whole grains, cereal, 
juice, and eggs. CACFP on the other hand, reimburses meals or 
snacks served in eligible childcare centers, daycare, homes, 
and adult daycare centers.
    In fiscal 2019 almost 5 million children and adults from 
low-income households benefited daily from the program. Last 
year Congress appropriated over 25 billion in taxpayer dollars 
for Federal child nutrition programs. Congress acted quickly on 
the on-set of COVID-19 pandemic to help millions of vulnerable 
people keep access to this nutritional lifeline.
    The Families First Coronavirus Response Act boosted WIC 
funding and allowed the USDA to grant flexibility waivers from 
certain requirements. Pandemic-related emergency actions helped 
ensure these vulnerable populations maintained access to these 
nutritional services. These programs and more, continue to 
operate because of executive action.
    While appropriate last year, the facts on the ground are 
not the same. Operation Warp Speed has done its job, and life 
is returning to normal for most Americans. It's time for 
Congress to be wise stewards of taxpayer money by reinstating 
the statutory and regulatory system.
    With any government program, particularly one that costs 
tens of billions of dollars a year, we must carefully balance 
how to administer the program without exposing taxpayers to 
waste or abuse. Republicans support good government solutions 
to prevent waste and improve recipient's interaction with the 
child nutrition programs.
    Government programs too often encumber participants with 
unnecessary hurdles in archaic processes. Many families deserve 
the seamless experience. I look forward to hearing from today's 
witnesses on how best Congress can strike the right balance 
when we reauthorize the child nutrition programs.
    My instinct tells me that industry partners can help 
Congress deliver on the promise of WIC and CACFP. The Federal 
Government is out of touch with how to help families access the 
nutrition programs that are available to them. Congress must 
work with these entities to help disadvantaged Americans get 
the nutrition they need to thrive.
    Any reauthorization of the child nutrition programs must 
leverage the knowledge and experience of local partners because 
they know what works best for the vulnerable people we hope to 
serve. Thank you, Madam Chair, I yield back.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Fulcher follows:]

 Statement of Hon. Rich Fulcher, Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Civil 
                       Rights and Human Services

    Young children and nursing or expecting mothers need adequate 
nutrition. Well-fed children have numerous advantages. According to 
research, the better the nutritional value, the more likely both child 
and mother will have stronger immune systems, safer pregnancies, and 
longer lives.
    We also know that access to food leads to more productive learning 
environments. That is why Federal nutrition programs date back to the 
1940's. There is a national interest in supporting a healthy baseline 
for future generations. There is also a critical role for private 
partners, including religious and other non-profit entities, that help 
provide these services to people. We saw this last year as we dealt 
with COVID-19.
    Today, the Richard B. Russell National School Lunch Act and the 
Child Nutrition Act authorize both the Special Supplemental Nutrition 
Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and the Child and Adult 
Care Food Program (CACFP).
    These programs help provide nutrition services to vulnerable women 
and children. Through WIC, the Federal Government provides funding to 
states for the purpose of assisting low-income women who are pregnant, 
breastfeeding, or have children up to the age of five. State agencies 
work with tens of thousands of authorized retailers so these vulnerable 
mothers can purchase certain foods such as fruits, vegetables, milk, 
whole grain cereal, juice, and eggs.
    CACFP, on the other hand, reimburses meals or snacks served in 
eligible child care centers, day care homes, and adult day care 
centers. In Fiscal Year 2019, almost 5 million children and adults from 
low-income households benefited daily from the program.
    Last year, Congress appropriated over $25 billion in taxpayer 
dollars for Federal child nutrition programs.
    Congress acted quickly at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to 
help millions of vulnerable people keep access to this nutritional 
lifeline. The Families First Coronavirus Response Act boosted WIC 
funding and allowed the USDA to grant flexibility waivers from certain 
requirements. Pandemic-related emergency actions helped ensure these 
vulnerable populations maintain access to these nutrition services.
    These programs and more continue to operate because of executive 
action. While appropriate last year, the facts on the ground are not 
the same. Operation Warp Speed has done its job, and life is returning 
to normal for most Americans. It is time for Congress to be wise 
stewards of taxpayer money by reinstating the statutory and regulatory 
system.
    With any government program, particularly one that costs tens of 
billions of dollars a year, we must carefully balance how to administer 
the program without exposing taxpayers to waste or abuse.
    Republicans support good government solutions to prevent waste and 
improve recipients'
    interaction with the child nutrition programs. Government programs 
too often encumber participants with unnecessary hurdles and archaic 
processes. Needy families deserve a seamless experience.
    I look forward to hearing from today's witnesses on how best 
Congress can strike the right balance when we reauthorize the child 
nutrition programs.
    My instinct tells me that industry partners can help Congress 
deliver on the promise of WIC and CACFP. The Federal Government is out-
of-touch with how to help families access the nutrition programs 
available to them. Congress must work with these entities to help 
disadvantaged Americans to get the nutrition they need to thrive.
    Any reauthorization of the child nutrition programs must leverage 
the knowledge and experience of local partners because they know what 
works best for the vulnerable people we hope to serve.
                                 ______
                                 
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Ranking Member Fulcher. 
Without objection, all other Members who wish to insert written 
statements into the record may do so by submitting them to the 
Committee Clerk electronically in Microsoft Word format by 5 
p.m. on August 11, 2021.
    I will now introduce the witnesses. Teresa Turner is a 
School Nutrition Specialist and Registered Dietician. She 
serves at the Army Child and Youth Services Nutritionist at 
Fort Meade.
    Next, we have Paula Garrett, a Registered Dietician. She 
serves as the State WIC Director for the Virginia Department of 
Health, and a Member of the Board of Directors for the National 
WIC Association.
    Trevor Farrell is Senior Vice President and Chief 
Commercial Officer Americas at Schreiber U.S., and Jessica 
Burris is a WIC Breastfeeding Peer Counselor with the 
Montgomery County, North Carolina Department of Health, and a 
mother of three, whose children were able to get a healthy 
start in life through WIC.
    We appreciate the witnesses for participating today, and we 
look forward to your testimony. Your written statement will 
appear in full in the hearing record, and you are asked to 
limit your oral presentation to a 5-minute summary. After your 
presentation we will move to Member questions.
    The witnesses are aware of their responsibility to provide 
accurate information to the Subcommittee, and therefore we will 
proceed with their testimony. I will first recognize Ms. 
Turner, Ms. Turner?

         MS. TERESA L. TURNER, MS, RD, LDN, SNS, FAND, 
   NUTRITIONIST, CHILD AND YOUTH SERVICES, UNITED STATES ARMY

    Ms. Turner. Thank you, great morning. Chair Bonamici, 
Ranking Member Fulcher, Committee Members, and my fellow 
distinguished panelists, I am honored to have the opportunity 
to speak before you today. My name is Teresa Turner, and I am 
the nutritionist at U.S. Army Child and Youth Services at Fort 
Meade. I am also the current President of the Maryland Academy 
of Nutrition and Dietetics, an affiliate of the National 
Academy, the world's largest organization of food and nutrition 
professionals whom I am here representing today.
    We believe that providing well-balanced nutritious meals, 
and establishing early, healthy eating habits is critical to 
our country's current nutrition security crisis. We are 
particularly concerned about long-standing and ongoing racial 
and ethnic disparities, including those evidenced in, and 
heightened by the pandemic.
    We believe that Congress has a great opportunity through 
the upcoming CNR, to strengthen critical nutrition programs 
like CACFP, to address some of the root causes of these 
disparities. As a proud civilian employee of the U.S. Army, I 
believe strong, Federal programs are an investment in our 
country's health, and in military preparedness.
    Today I will share with you some of my experiences, 
operating CACFP, and discuss recommendations to improve the 
program by one--allowing childcare centers and homes the option 
of serving an additional meal.
    Two--streamlining program requirements, reducing paperwork, 
and maximizing technology to improve program access. And last 
three--providing adequate reimbursements and funding to cover 
the operating costs of providing healthy foods. I run the meal 
programs for six child and youth programs on base.
    During normal operating hours I monitor roughly 300 
employees that facilitate providing breakfast, lunch, and 
afternoon snacks to children each day. I take immense pride in 
providing meals that are cooked from scratch and meet the high 
nutrition standards set forth by the CACFP.
    I know that my Army peers could feel good about leaving 
their children at our centers as they set out to serve our 
country. Like all childcare facilities across the country, mine 
took a significant financial hit due to the pandemic. We were 
serving about 1,000 children a day, and saw that number 
decrease to a mere 300 through the physical limitations of 
distance guidelines.
    We do not charge our parents for food, and the only way our 
program brings in revenue is by spaces filled and food 
reimbursement. The program's revenue fell significantly, but 
labor and fixed costs remained the same. I was appreciative of 
the funding from Congress that provided some relief for 
childcare centers that lost money because of declining 
participation.
    Supply chain disruptions and increases in food and 
transportation expenses are also significant challenges. These 
additional costs have added even more of a financial burden 
onto my program--an issue my peers across Maryland, and across 
the country are also experiencing.
    As much as the pandemic hit my bottom line, it also 
impacted the financial security of families. It is time to 
reinstate an additional meal or snack into CACFP, aligning with 
National Childcare Standards which specifically State that 
young children need to eat small, healthy meals and snacks 
throughout the day.
    My centers are typically open for a full day of care, and 
for children who are there eight plus hours, it is too long to 
go without having the recommended compliment of meals and 
snacks. If programs were able to provide an additional meal, it 
would take some time and stress off of the parents.
    There is broad consensus that many childcare homes and 
centers across the country are not participating in CACFP due 
to the inadequate benefits, as well as burdensome paperwork. 
The Academy recommends streamlining program requirements, 
reducing paperwork, and maximizing technology to improve 
program access.
    The outdated requirement for parents to specify normal 
hours of daycare should be eliminated. This form limits when 
children can receive meals and snacks, and it's based on 
outdated assumptions that parents work regular and consistent 
hours.
    Many low-income families work a wide-variety of shifts, 
which may change from week to week. Many states require forms 
to be updated with every change and creating paperwork burdens 
for both the parent and the provider. Additionally, we are a 
compassionate reassignment, which means we also serve children 
who have medical and behavioral challenges.
    Sometimes the child will not be available to eat the meal 
in the time indicated as our normal hours. When this happens, a 
child who may be receiving special care or unable to 
participate during regular meal service hours, receives a meal 
that is not reimbursable.
    There are a number of small changes that can make 
administering the program easier. In addition, moving to annual 
eligibility for for-profit childcare centers, which streamline 
program operations in many low-income areas.
    Last, we recommend increasing CACFP reimbursements to make 
up for the increasing cost to transport, purchase and prepare 
healthy foods. Food and transportation costs continue to rise 
and purchasing healthy food items was already harder to access 
than less healthy food prior to the pandemic.
    The Academy believes that increasing reimbursement is an 
investment in our children's health. We need to establish 
healthy habits at an early age to promote healthy behavior and 
prevent obesity. We cannot afford to not invest in raising 
healthy children.
    Thank you so much for your time today. I will be happy to 
respond to any questions that you may have.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Turner follows:]

                 Prepared Statement of Teresa L. Turner
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you for your testimony, Ms. 
Turner. Next, we're going to hear from Ms. Garrett. Ms. Garrett 
you're recognized for five minutes for your testimony.

       MS. PAULA N. GARRETT, MS, RD, DIVISION DIRECTOR, 
           DIVISION OF COMMUNITY NUTRITION, VIRGINIA 
                      DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH

    Ms. Garrett. Chair Bonamici, Ranking Member Fulcher, 
Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Foxx, and Members of the House 
Education and Labor Committee, thank you for the opportunity to 
speak before you about improvements to the Special Supplemental 
Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, WIC.
    My name is Paula Garrett, and I'm testifying today in my 
capacity as the Virginia State WIC Director, and as a Member of 
the Board of Directors for the National WIC Association, a 
national non-profit organization representing 89 State WIC 
agencies, 12,000 front line service provider agencies, and the 
6.3 million mothers, infants, and young children that rely on 
WIC.
    WIC is an effective program that provides tailored 
nutrition education, healthy food, and support to pregnant and 
postpartum women and children age up to five. WIC's public 
health and nutrition services help assure healthy pregnancies, 
healthy births, and a healthy start for young children.
    Every dollar spent on WIC returns $2.48 in healthcare 
savings, as healthier birth outcomes result in Medicaid 
Savings. The WIC benefit which addresses nutrient concerns, 
reduces child food insecurity. In 2009, changes to the WIC food 
packages introduced fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, 
resulting in improved child diet quality and increased 
availability of health foods in grocery stores.
    WIC's breastfeeding support has too made significant 
impacts on breastfeeding initiation rates among WIC infants, 
however, as of 2018, only 57 percent of eligible WIC 
participants are receiving WIC services, and the program 
experienced declines in participation partly attributed to 
structural barriers to access, suggesting opportunities to 
modernize and streamline WIC.
    Waiver authorities provided through the Families First 
Coronavirus Response Act allowed WIC agencies to safely 
administer services via video and phone. Since the pandemic, 
the Virginia WIC program has seen a 12 percent increase in 
participation.
    Remote appointments eliminate some common barriers to 
participation, such as transportation, or time off of work, 
resulting in increased attendance, and engagement of parents 
during appointments. Relaxing the physical presence requirement 
post-COVID to allow video and phone certification appointments, 
while creating flexibility to issue benefits as families more 
conveniently schedule health assessments at either the WIC 
clinic, or physicians? offices, would assure that WIC meets the 
realities of families.
    Remote options should not phaseout certain health 
screenings which are essential to WIC's public health nutrition 
mission. Facilitating two-way communication of health 
information between physicians and WIC clinics, extending 
certification to 2 years, and streamlining certification 
periods across participant categories would help reduce 
repetitive paperwork and testing, which often can deter ongoing 
participation.
    The extension of the postpartum eligibility, 2 years, well 
positions WIC to be part of the Federal Government's response 
to racial disparities and maternal health, particularly 
maternal mortality, and morbidity among black and indigenous 
women. The Virginia WIC program partnered with the Virginia 
Department of Social Services, and the Virginia Department of 
Medical Assistant Services to conduct data matching through 
Medicaid, SNAP, and TANF.
    Building Federal partnerships within Medicaid, and 
expanding adjunctive eligibility to include Head Start, and the 
Children's Health Insurance Program, and the Food Distribution 
Program on Indian reservations would support child retention in 
WIC and streamline certification.
    As State WIC agencies prioritize technologies and 
initiatives for more modern accessible WIC experience, funding 
is needed to support improvements to State management 
information systems. In the American Rescue Act, Congress 
invested 880 million dollars in WIC outreach innovation and 
program modernization, and temporarily increased WIC's fruit 
and vegetable benefit.
    This investment has been increasingly well-received by 
Virginia's WIC families, increasing the overall value of the 
WIC food package would support access to nutritious foods, 
program retention, and the shopping experience. During the 
pandemic, USDA was able to scale up SNAP's online shopping 
pilot giving years of prior planning which WIC lacked, leaving 
WIC unable to adapt as complicated transactions and families 
without equitable shopping options.
    National online purchasing from WIC should be available no 
later than October 2024. The WIC Farmers Market Nutrition 
Program, F&P, provides an able benefit to WIC families to shop 
at local farmers markets, increasing or eliminating the FMP 
Able Benefit Cap of $30.00, would further support healthy 
shopping options and local agriculture.
    Cost-efficient technologies and statutory change to 
electronically process WIC F&P and WIC EBT transactions at 
markets is necessary. Thank you for your attention to WIC's 
pivotal role and promoting maternal, infant and child 
nutrition. I look forward to working with you to advance other 
solutions that enhances WIC's public health impact.
    [The prepared statement of Ms. Garrett follows:]

                 Prepared Statement of Paula N. Garrett
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you for your testimony, Ms. 
Garrett. Mr. Farrell you're recognized for five minutes for 
your testimony.

MR. TREVOR FARRELL, SENIOR VICE PRESIDENT AND CHIEF COMMERCIAL 
            OFFICER, AMERICAS, SCHREIBER FOODS, INC.

    Mr. Farrell. Thank you, Chairwoman Bonamici and Ranking 
Member Fulcher, for inviting me to participate in this 
important hearing regarding the nutrition program for women, 
infants, and children. At Schreiber Foods we strive to do good 
through food every day.
    We're a customer brand leader in shelf staple beverages and 
yogurt, along with natural processed cream cheese. With more 
than 9,000 employees and annual sales in excess of 5 billion 
dollars, we partner with the best retailers, restaurants, 
distributors, and food manufacturers around the globe.
    That includes providing safe, delicious food like cheese 
and yogurt, through WIC. As the House Education and Labor 
Committee begins to draft a Child Nutrition Reauthorization 
Bill, dairy companies like Schreiber ask you to ensure that 
WIC' s supplemental food package includes varieties and package 
sizes that reflect item preferences of WIC participants, and 
market availability within categories such as milk and dairy.
    Specifically, Congress should allow WIC participants to 
choose yogurt package sizes and flavor varieties that better 
match our current consumer preferences. Congress should also 
affirmatively enable all WIC participants to choose reduced fat 
2 percent milk to ensure that pregnant women, mothers, and 
children redeem their milk vouchers, and receive milk's 
nutritional benefits.
    Schreiber and the entire dairy industry are proud of the 
role we play in contributing to improved health outcomes for 
WIC families. Dairy products provide a number of essential 
nutrients and are core components of diets recommended by the 
dietary guidelines for Americans.
    Milk, yogurt, and cheese provide high-quality protein, and 
13 essential nutrients, including calcium, Vitamin D, and 
potassium. According to the dietary guidelines, these nutrients 
are key dietary components of public health concern. The health 
benefits of dairy products include better bone health and lower 
risk of both Type 2 diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. These 
are three critical areas of concern for WIC demographics.
    Unfortunately, 90 percent of the U.S. population does not 
meet the levels of dairy consumption recommended by the DGA's. 
To help improve upon this nutritional issue, WIC's supplemental 
food package provides redemptions for milk, yogurt, and cheese. 
Unnecessary specifications and package restrictions however, 
caused the WIC dairy program to be too restrictive.
    Congress should allow WIC participants to choose yogurt 
package sizes and flavor varieties that better match current 
consumer preferences. 33 states, and the District of Columbia 
only allow WIC households to select one 32-ounce container of 
yogurt, instead of choosing from a selection of the much more 
commonly sold single serve yogurt containers, such as 4-, 5.3-
and 6-ounce cups.
    In yogurt there are 200 plus varieties available in single 
serve containers, compared to only 33--35 varieties offered in 
the 32-ounce size. Even the 634 million pounds sold in 32-ounce 
containers are only 23 percent of the 2.7 billion pounds sold 
across single serve and 32-ounce sizes together.
    This means that WIC participants are limited only to a 
fraction of the yogurt available on store shelves. As USDA 
reviews and updates the food package, the Department should 
clarify that states may allow participants to use their yogurt 
redemption for containers that total up to 32 ounces.
    Congress should allow WIC participants to choose yogurt in 
smaller package sizes, which have more flavor options, are more 
popular with consumers, and are more readily available in 
stores. Congress should also affirmatively enable all WIC 
participants to choose reduced fat 2 percent milk.
    In 2014, the Department took away the most popular milk 
variety, reduced fat 2 percent milk, from children older than 
two, as well as pregnant and lactating women, unless the WIC 
participant had documented medical conditions, limiting variety 
impacts access.
    A 2015 study found that many stores in Hispanic majority 
and low-income neighborhoods were less likely to carry low-fat 
1 percent or non-fat milk. This could result in less WIC 
participant access to grocery stores in their neighborhoods, 
and therefore less milk consumption by WIC families. Congress 
should allow all WIC participants to choose reduced fat 2 
percent milk so that pregnant women, mothers, and children can 
have better access to milk's nutritional benefits.
    In conclusion, the more the WIC program allows the 
varieties and sizes that people want to buy, and are widely 
available, the more likely eligible families will participate 
in WIC. During the COVID pandemic milk variety and yogurt 
container size flexibilities were successfully used through 
waivers managed by State agencies to maintain food access for 
WIC participants.
    They allowed these participants access foods that met WIC 
nutritional needs and were more readily available in the supply 
chain and on store's shelves. This allowed women, infants, and 
children better access to products such as yogurt and reduced 
fat milk, which improved our ability to provide essential 
ingredients and health benefits of dairy products to WIC 
participants.
    Doing this long-term seems like a logical step. Thank you 
again for allowing me to participate in this hearing and I look 
forward to any questions you may have.
    [The prepared statement of Mr. Farrell follows:]

                  Prepared Statement of Trevor Farrell
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Mr. Ferrell, for your 
testimony. And we have next Ms. Burris. Ms. Burris you are 
recognized for five minutes for your testimony.

     MRS. JESSICA BURRIS, NORTH CAROLINA WIC PARTICIPANT; 
           BREASTFEEDING PEER COUNSELOR, MONTGOMERY 
          COUNTY DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH--WIC DEPARTMENT

    Ms. Burris. OK thank you. Chair Bonamici, Ranking Member 
Fulcher, Chairman Scott, Ranking Member Foxx, and Members of 
the House Education and Labor Committee, thank you for holding 
today's hearing and providing me with the opportunity to share 
my experience with WIC services.
    My name is Jessica Burris. I'm a mother of three in North 
Carolina, and I'm so grateful that each of my children was able 
to get a healthy start thanks to WIC. As a parent, I had 
questions that didn't always have easy answers, especially 
about how to change my diet while pregnant, and what to feed my 
toddlers to make sure they grow up healthy.
    WIC was there for me with the answers. I have relied on the 
monthly benefit to purchase nutritious foods that were 
otherwise too costly. But WIC is more than a food benefit. The 
nutrition and breastfeeding support nurtures a community that 
helps new parents like me build healthier lives for our 
families.
    I was first pregnant when I was 14, and I had a lot of 
choices to make quickly. Even when I'm with my mother and a 
strong community behind me, I was still immensely grateful that 
there was a program like WIC to support me and my growing 
family.
    WIC staff ensured that I could afford food for my daughter, 
and help build my nutrition knowledge to successfully 
breastfeed, make smart choices while shopping, and cook healthy 
meals. Today my oldest daughter is living and working in 
Charlotte, and I couldn't be prouder of how she grew up.
    As I was raising her, I met my husband, found work, and 
settled in Troy, North Carolina. When we were ready, my husband 
and I had two children. While we were more established then, 
and even though my daughter was on Medicaid, I didn't even 
imagine that we would be eligible for WIC.
    It was almost when my daughter was a year old before we 
found out through a healthcare worker that we could apply for 
WIC, and she referred us to a clinic. My younger children would 
have never received WIC support if there hadn't been a 
connection between WIC and Medicaid. We have to make it as easy 
as possible for eligible families to be connected to WIC 
services.
    Allowing for remote certifications after the pandemic is an 
important first step. The program's in-person requirements were 
a barrier to our family, as we live in a small county that 
doesn't even have a birthing hospital. When my son and younger 
daughter were first certified in 2018, I had to drive 25 miles 
away to reach the WIC clinic.
    The time and distance carried a cost, as my husband and I 
had to balance the WIC appointments with work responsibilities, 
and childcare arrangements. These challenges became worse 
during the pandemic as I am one of the millions of American 
women whose work was disrupted.
    I am thankful that WIC waived in-person requirements 
starting in March 2020. I was able to recertify my children for 
WIC through a phone call without hassle, and without exposing 
my family to COVID-19. I was also able to receive nutritious 
education through online platforms, text messages and by phone.
    Because of the age difference between my children, I've 
been able to see how WIC has adapted over the years. With my 
oldest daughter, I was just starting to learn how to shop and 
prepare nutritious foods. Even in the 1990's WIC encouraged 
healthier options and steered me away from purchasing sugary 
cereals for my daughter.
    When my younger children reconnected with WIC, I was 
excited to see all of the changes that moved WIC's foods closer 
to the advice of doctors and scientists, like the addition of 
fruits and vegetables. I was overjoyed when North Carolina WIC 
announced the higher value for fruits and vegetables in June 
2021. The benefit is typically only $9.00, which is nowhere 
near enough to ensure my kids have consistent access to fruits 
and vegetables.
    With the added value up to $35.00 per month, I'm able to 
make fresh, nutritious meals for my children and introduce them 
to new varieties of healthy foods. WIC is not just a food 
benefit. WIC recognizes that good nutrition is part of overall 
health and through education and health screenings at clinic 
sites, has provided my family with individualized counseling.
    In 2018, my local WIC clinic offered lead screenings, and 
identified that my 3-year-old son had high levels of lead. 
Since my pediatrician did not screen for lead, we would have 
never known and sought treatment if not for WIC. After the 
pandemic it's important to rethink WIC's relationship with 
Medicaid and doctors? offices and encourage greater 
collaboration.
    WIC has a highly effective breastfeeding peer counselor 
program, and I was fortunate enough to be recently hired as a 
peer counselor. Local WIC clinics in North Carolina partner 
with birthing hospitals to provide breastfeeding support at the 
bedside--a critical time for breastfeeding initiation.
    These local partnerships with WIC outside the clinic walls 
and connect WIC into the broader healthcare system which 
reflects the reality of how families like mine receive care. I 
participated in WIC twice at very different parts of my life, 
but WIC has consistently delivered support, healthier foods, 
and important public health services that have significantly 
impacted the nutrition and well-being of my children.
    I thank you for considering improvements that will build on 
the important work of this essential program.
    [The prepared statement of Mrs. Burris follows:]

                  Prepared Statement of Jessica Burris
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]


    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Ms. Burris, and to all the 
witnesses for your testimony. Under Committee Rule 9(a) we are 
now going to question the witnesses under the five-minute rule. 
And I will recognize Subcommittee Members in seniority order, 
and as Chair, I recognize myself for five minutes.
    So according to the USDA, as many as 30 million adults and 
12 million children have not had enough nutritious food to eat 
during the pandemic. And at the same time we've seen some 
declining rates of participation in WIC and CACFP in recent 
years. Ms. Burris, the WIC Farmers Market Nutrition Program, 
FMNP, which you mentioned, is an excellent program.
    But we know that many WIC participants are not able to 
fully benefit because it is capped at $50.00 per participant. 
As a WIC participant, have you been able to receive the Farmers 
Market Nutrition Program benefits, and if so, what has your 
experience been like, and do you agree that benefits should be 
increased for this program?
    Ms. Burris. It is not available in my county. It's 
available in all surrounding counties. I would love for it to 
be available in our county. We do have a farmer's market. I 
think my sister has access because she lives in Wake County in 
Raleigh, as she has had a positive experience with it. But I 
think it's great, and I would love for our county to have 
access to that.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you very much. And Ms. Turner, 
you're a witness testifying on behalf of the Academy of 
Nutrition and Dietetics, AND as you mentioned. I want to give 
you a chance to respond. Mr. Farrell mentioned that AND 
position paper on dairy, to justify the argument for 2 percent 
milk and WIC. Could you clarify what that position paper 
actually says about dairy?
    Ms. Turner. Thank you so much for that question, 
Congresswoman. I believe the document that is being referenced 
is the consensus statement that was created by not only the 
Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, but also the American 
Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, the American Academy of 
Pediatrics, as well as the American Heart Association.
    The consensus statement, excuse me, does in fact encourage 
children from 12 to 24 months to drink whole milk, and then for 
children older than 24 months it recommends consuming water or 
milk with less fat than whole, like skim and 1 percent.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you. And it's my understanding 
as well that if a child has a nutritional need, they can still 
get 2 percent if they have a doctor's prescription, is that 
correct?
    Ms. Turner. Absolutely with a special diet statement.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you. So as I detailed in my 
opening statement, we've been receiving feedback from providers 
really since 2009 about how to improve CACFP, and I'm soon 
going to be reintroducing my Early Childhood Nutrition 
Improvement Act.
    This legislation will update the law to streamline 
paperwork requirements and incentivize care providers to 
interpret this program, and it will support greater access to 
nutritious foods for kids. These changes are long overdue, and 
I enjoyed bipartisan support for these changes over the past 
several years.
    Importantly under current law, CACFP only provides up to 
two meals and one snack per day. So Ms. Turner, how would 
adding the option of a third meal or a snack per day help 
children and working families?
    Ms. Turner. Thank you again. I'm a numbers person, so 
absolutely adding just a single meal per day, 5 days per week, 
all year long is 260 meals that the parent would not have to 
provide. That leaves peace of mind for the parents. That leaves 
less stress for the parents which makes for a better household, 
and the child is more food secure.
    It doesn't just benefit us as a program, it benefits the 
child as an individual, and the family as a whole. And I think 
that's really the most significant part.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. And could you describe, you talked 
about how many children are in your care program. Are they 
hungry at the end of the day if they're there for a long day?
    Ms. Turner. Absolutely. And there are smaller snacks that 
we give, but not a reimbursable snack, and not a full hearty 
snack that could supplement that hunger.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Terrific, well thank you so much. And 
I guess I want to ask Ms. Burris as well, I don't know if 
you've used the CACFP program, but what's your thought on 
whether children who are in a childcare setting, at the end of 
the day and they're still hungry, should they be able to get 
another meal at the end of the day through the CACFP program?
    Ms. Burris. Yes, thank you. Both of my children are in a 
daycare. I don't know if they participate in the program, but 
it sounds like that's what they have. They do get a snack after 
lunch. It's usually like a handful of Goldfish maybe, so they 
are really hungry when they come home.
    So I do think that it would be great if that would be 
improved in the daycare setting.
    Chairman Bonamici. Thank you so much and I just want to as 
I begin to yield back, I just want to mention to my colleagues 
that I have been working on this proposal for CACFP. It has 
traditionally enjoyed bipartisan support. We're looking at 
providing that third meal for the kids who stay a long day, but 
also streamlining as we heard from so many that the paperwork 
requirements to make the administration smoother, and more 
efficient for the care providers and families. And I see my 
time is expired. I want to set a good example and yield back.
    And now I'm going to recognize the Ranking Member Mr. 
Fulcher for five minutes for your questions.
    Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just as a reminder to 
everyone in that last exchange, Ms. Turner made a comment that 
adding or expanding the program would just create meals where 
the parents wouldn't have to provide them. That's really not 
true. Parents will have to provide the meals, it's just a 
question of which parents, because it's a taxpayer issue, and 
we have to fund these things in some fashion.
    But to that end I want to ask a question of Mr. Farrell. 
Food prices are up, and we're all seeing it, we're all dealing 
with that, and we've just come through a massive pandemic. 
We've infused a tremendous amount of money into the money 
supply, and that's going to have ramifications. It's called 
inflation.
    How has that impacted from your vantage point, how has that 
impacted the WIC program?
    Mr. Farrell. That cost structure, as you said, 
Representative Fulcher, they're intense right now. The last 2 
years we've seen labor, freight, and packaging increases on our 
business alone in the tens of millions of dollars. It's so 
difficult right now to find labor. It's so difficult to 
efficiently source the raw materials that we need.
    And so the dairy industry is doing everything that we can 
to mitigate and protect consumers from this additional cost. 
But to execute programs like WIC it's only going to get tougher 
from a cost perspective, and so allowing the use of these 
programs to be less cumbersome and less restrictive will help 
with those cost pressures.
    Mr. Fulcher. So as a followup to that, I know that there 
are regulations, or guidance if you will in these programs that 
limit WIC participants, and what they can purchase in the 
store. What are some of the ramifications of those regulations 
or guidelines on the WIC program?
    Mr. Farrell. Yes, I mean again if they can't purchase 2 
percent milk, except for infants below 2 years old, it's just 
taking the most common milk item on the shelf away from a lot 
of WIC participants. Many stores don't have a full array of 
milk products, so they're not able to give the nutritional 
benefits because they don't have options to sell to WIC 
participants.
    Similarly in yogurt, a lot of these neighborhoods where WIC 
participants live don't have the 32-ounce size of yogurt even 
as an option. Typically, you know, the store shelves are 
smaller, a lot less space, and so just having a single serve is 
often times the only option that a WIC participant would have, 
and if those items are not shelved, then they're not going to 
get the nutrition and other benefits that dairy products 
provide.
    Mr. Fulcher. So you talked about the packaging, Mr. Farrell 
again, I'm sorry. You talked about the packaging issue. I'm not 
sure I completely understood it. You mentioned a 32-ounce 
container, and do I understand it correctly that to qualify for 
the program that's the container that needs to be utilized, and 
is that one of those factors that could be changed, it could 
broaden the access to various products?
    Mr. Farrell. That's correct. There's some vagueness in the 
way that the laws are written because the states are actually 
implementing the rules a bit differently, but 33 states, plus 
the District of Columbia, are interpreting the rules to say 
only 32-ounce size.
    We would like to see clarification so that 32 ounces in 
total with a combination of sizes as an option for consumers be 
a more clear rule written into the changes you're about to 
make.
    Mr. Fulcher. So I've only got a minute left, and Mr. 
Farrell I want to just close with a sales pitch from my home 
State. We are a major dairy producer in the State of Idaho, and 
so to that end your view on the importance of dairy as part of 
the daily diet, and why it's so important to have it included 
here.
    Mr. Farrell. Yes. I mean it was in my testimony the 
importance of what dairy can bring to the diet. Again, milk and 
water were prescribed as the best beverages to have for 
children ages one to five. We want to make that accessible, but 
there's so many, 13 key nutrients, it helps with bone health, 
it reduces the risk of cardiovascular disease.
    You know there are so many public health benefits of dairy, 
and we want to make sure that as many WIC participants as 
possible get access to those.
    Mr. Fulcher. Mr. Farrell and panel Members, thank you so 
much. Madam Chair I yield back.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Ranking Member Fulcher. 
Next, I'm going to recognize Dr. Adams for five minutes for 
your questions.
    Ms. Adams. Thank you, Madam Chair. Good morning, everybody. 
Thank you, Representative Bonamici and Ranking Member Fulcher, 
for holding the meeting. We know that children are our future, 
but how they can be our future when they do not have adequate 
nutrition during their formative years is really the question.
    The pandemic has exacerbated the food insecurity for many, 
particularly for children, and I pointed this out over and over 
again, as many of you have as well. But streamlining and 
modernizing the application process will help alleviate the 
burden on those who could obtain proper nutrition through 
established government programs.
    Ms. Burris, as a fellow North Carolinian welcome to the 
Committee. But as a WIC participant, can you share more about 
your experience with shopping for WIC foods?
    Ms. Burris. Thank you. My experience overall is pretty 
positive. The only setbacks have been not labeling in the 
stores, like saying what WIC foods are available. Like not 
having proper labeling. Some stores have great labeling, and 
some don't, that's where the benefit app comes in handy, 
because if you're not sure you can scan the bar code and it 
tells you if it's a WIC approved item or not.
    I just think more advertisement in the stores. Not really 
advertisement, but just pointing out which are the WIC approved 
items for parents. That's just really the only thing that I 
could see that needs improvement, but overall it's a good 
experience, and I'm very satisfied with the foods that are 
available.
    Ms. Adams. Right. OK. Thank you. So if we had that, what 
you just mentioned, that identification and so forth, that 
would make your shopping experience better, thank you. Ms. 
Turner thank you for your service.
    In addition to providing nutrition education experience 
with children through the programs at Fort Meade, you've also 
worked to engage parents and caregivers. So how does providing 
nutrition education for parents and other family Members help 
you achieve your goals with the program?
    Ms. Turner. Thank you so much. Children need people to care 
for them. They also need people to guide and lead them. They're 
not responsible for their own food, they don't work, and so 
it's important that the adults in their lives that they look up 
to, and that take care of them are able to understand healthy 
habits and proper nutrition so that they can pass those on to 
the children.
    Role modeling, basic nutrition education, access, how to 
save money while grocery shopping, how to read nutrition 
labels, all of that information goes to the parents and 
caregivers, and they're more confident and comfortable to pass 
that information on to the children, and that's what they need, 
that guidance in their homes.
    Ms. Adams. Right. Ms. Garrett would you explain or speak to 
the impact that children of color experience within the WIC 
program, and what other measures could be taken by Congress to 
support all children and families?
    Ms. Garrett. Thank you for your question. As far as what 
we're doing for WIC, we provide the nutrition education, and 
assessment, and the healthy foods we need to support our 
families. What we've seen in the pandemic is that our 
participation has increased significantly.
    Because we found that families were more food insecure, and 
that they needed this benefit. And so the waivers, especially 
the waiver for reduced, excuse me, for remote certification, 
and physical presence helped to facilitate some of those 
barriers that our families faced, and also the waiver to allow 
for some flexibilities in the foods also allowed for families 
to receive the benefit that they were entitled to have.
    Ms. Adams. Thank you. Mr. Farrell nearly all of your 
testimony focused on dairy and packaging sizing. Could you 
speak to other important aspects of the WIC program?
    Mr. Farrell. Yes, for sure. I mean I think again trying to 
provide nutritional benefits, it's not just dairy, but 
similarly fruits and vegetables, grains. We're just trying to 
get nutrients to these participants. The reason dairy is a 
factor again, there's a study that 90 percent of U.S. citizens 
are not getting enough dairy in their diets.
    But I do think it's just it's simply part of a balanced 
diet, and those other fruits and vegetables are as critically 
important.
    Ms. Adams. Right. Ms. Garrett, I just have a few moments, 
but what forms of support does WIC offer new mothers?
    Ms. Garrett. Well we provide especially breastfeeding 
support, in terms of the breastfeeding peer counselor program. 
We also have done bedside WIC certification appointments. Now 
granted that has not happened since COVID, but we have had 
several of our districts who provide certification appointments 
right at the bedside, so the parents never leave the hospital 
without their WIC benefits, and then we also----
    Ms. Adams. Thank you. Thank you, ma'am, I'm out of time.
    Ms. Garrett. Thank you, thank you, Dr. Adams.
    Ms. Adams. Madam Chair I'm going to yield back.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Dr. Adams. Next, I'm going 
to recognize the Ranking Member of the Full Committee Dr. Foxx 
from North Carolina. Dr. Foxx you're muted.
    Ms. Foxx. Sorry.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. There you go.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Bonamici. Thank you 
for our witnesses. My questions are going to be for Mr. 
Farrell. Mr. Farrell the WIC program fails if we don't have 
industry partners in the program. To me that means we need to 
ensure the program requirements do not limit the ability of 
those partners to meet the needs of the participants, while 
still being able to operate through business.
    You've discussed a little bit with Chair Fulcher about the 
problems you've seen in your business. So can you react to 
that, and discuss a little bit more about what that means that 
we should consider as we reauthorize the program without 
necessarily repeating what you told Mr. Fulcher?
    Mr. Farrell. Yes, thank you Representative Foxx. Nutrition 
programs like WIC and SNAP, they work well when the involve 
foods that are accessible in the market, and throughout the 
supply chain. And problems occur when product specifications, 
rules and regulations, limit what's readily available.
    And it also hurts stores trying to participate in WIC 
because they don't have access. So as a result, WIC 
participants, they're losing both accessibility to foods and 
stores, and they're losing access to stores altogether. You 
know we've got to get these nutritional benefits in the hands 
of our consumers, and you know the more rules and regulations 
we put on to that access, the harder it is to do that 
effectively.
    Ms. Foxx. Yes. The 32-ounce example you used is very good. 
You know I sit here and listen to my colleagues talk about 
feeding more and more and more meals. There seems to be 
absolutely no sense of where the money comes from to pay for 
these programs. I bring up accountability in all programs all 
the time.
    It should be a major focus, as we're utilizing taxpayer 
dollars. This is not manna from heaven that we have, so 
taxpayer dollars. And the American people are the most generous 
people in the world. They help their neighbors in need. So 
while I know accountability is largely the responsibility of 
the government, it takes all partners in our programs to help 
protect the integrity of our programs.
    Mr. Farrell, what are some accountability provisions you 
recommend helping ensure the WIC program is meeting its purpose 
without wasting precious taxpayer dollars? And I'll ask Ms. 
Turner and Ms. Garrett to answer that as well, once Mr. Farrell 
completes his response, and you see I have 2 minutes, so we 
need fairly quick responses.
    Mr. Farrell. Yes, I do think that you know the 
responsibility for those in the industry like the dairy 
industry is to make sure that our products meet WIC standards, 
nutritional standards, container size requirements, et cetera. 
The more restrictions, and the more--the tougher it is for us 
to do that effectively and efficiently, it's just going to make 
access that much harder.
    I think accountability really falls outside of our 
industry, but I do agree with the things that you're saying 
there. To me it's not so much about more money into the 
program, it's more about making it efficient and allowing these 
products to truly get in consumers? hands.
    Ms. Foxx. Thank you. Ms. Turner, a quick response please. 
Where can we be more accountable to have more money?
    Ms. Turner. Thank you so much. Considering it's an 
investment in children, and investment benefits everyone in the 
whole community, I think it's important that the community and 
the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics agrees that the 
community contribute and is able to contribute to all of the 
investments of children to benefit society as a whole.
    Ms. Foxx. Ms. Burris? I'm sorry, Ms. Garrett, apologize.
    Ms. Garrett. Thank you, Representative Foxx. As a State WIC 
Director I am one of those individuals who is responsible for 
holding our budget accountable. So in reference to the 32-ounce 
container size, that's a State option, and we have to make sure 
that we are making best use of the food funds that are provided 
to us.
    So those types of decisions are the ones that we have to 
make. In choosing different container sizes you also introduce 
increased cost into the food package that is already at some 
times already exacerbated.
    Ms. Foxx. OK. Mr. Farrell I'll go back to you for just a 
second. You brought up the issue of inflation. You brought up 
the issue of having a hard time finding labor. Nobody has 
mentioned farmers. I have a lot of dairy farmers in my 
district, and they are being killed by inflation, particularly 
the cost of fuel.
    Would you like to add anything to what you said about how 
inflation is impacting farmers?
    Mr. Farrell. Yes absolutely. Farmers operate on very thin 
margins as you know. Everything that you said is absolutely 
true. It's a tough place to be right now as a farmer, and of 
course we need them to be healthy, and to provide great 
products to consumers and WIC participants.
    Ms. Foxx. Yes, it starts right there. If we don't have them 
because there will be no ``investment,'' in children. Thank you 
very much. I yield back.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Dr. Foxx. Next, I recognize 
Representative Hayes for five minutes for your questions.
    Ms. Hayes. Thank you. Thank you, Chair Bonamici, and thank 
you to all the witnesses today for being here. The programs we 
are discussing are crucial to supporting new mothers and 
children through the early stages of childhood and setting up 
entire families for success.
    Ms. Turner, I want to thank you for your comment just now 
that investing in our children is investing in our communities. 
That is something very important to remember. Despite the 
program's continued success for those who utilize it, we know 
that in recent years the WIC program has seen a significant 
decline in participants.
    This is especially concerning in light of all of the child 
hunger crisis that we've seen caused by COVID-19. So my 
question is for Ms. Garrett. In your work as a WIC State 
Director, do you find that many families are unaware that they 
qualify for the program?
    Ms. Garrett. So thank you for your question Representative 
Hayes, yes, we find that a lot of our parents find that they 
are not actually eligible for the WIC program, and so we'd like 
to thank Congress for the passage of the 880 million dollars 
that would allow for WIC modernization and outreach to actually 
help families to find out that they're actually eligible.
    And also, looking at expanding adjunctive eligibility to 
Head Start families, and to also people who are getting CHIP, 
and then for the food distribution program on Indian 
reservations. Folks don't know that they are eligible, and that 
is where we're finding that we have 43 percent of the Nation's 
participants who could actually benefit from the program.
    So putting measures in place to expand the program would be 
a great benefit.
    Ms. Hayes. Thank you. That is actually a problem that I've 
been working on during my time in Congress. And it actually has 
received bipartisan support. This month I introduced the WIC 
for Kids Act with Representative Jenniffer Gonzalez-Colon.
    This legislation would expand adjunctive eligibility to 
include Members of a family participating in SNAP, Medicaid and 
TANF, and expand eligibility to those participating in Head 
Start, Early Head Start, the food distribution programs on 
Indian reservations that you just referenced, and the 
Children's Health Insurance Program.
    Our bill also extends child certification periods to 2 
years and provides flexibility so families can recertify at the 
same time. The next question for you Ms. Garrett as well. I'm 
glad to see that you recommend expanding adjunctive eligibility 
to Head Start in your testimony.
    Can you share more about why adjunctive eligibility to this 
program and others would help families?
    Ms. Garrett. Well families have already gone through the 
eligibility process for attainment into or participation in 
those programs, and if we align our certification eligibility 
guidelines along with those, adjunctive eligibility means 
almost ``automatic eligibility'' into the WIC program.
    So it makes it much easier for families that have already 
been determined eligible for those other programs, then they 
would be automatically eligible for the WIC program and can 
have those benefits.
    In the past we have partnered with Head Start in providing 
nutrition appointments, certifications, nutrition education, 
right there in the Head Start centers where parents can 
actually come, drop their children off for Head Start, take 
care of their WIC certification appointments and nutrition 
education appointments, and get their benefits and take them in 
one fell shot.
    Ms. Hayes. Thank you. I've actually seen that in my own 
district, in my community. We have Head Start centers that are 
community-based centers where there is housing, there is 
employment, there are just all of these wrap around services 
that once parents drop off their children they can access. I'm 
very proud that my community has started that. I was a Head 
Start child myself, and all of my children went through Head 
Start.
    And like Ms. Burris, I was a young mom who accessed the WIC 
program. The other thing that I'm hearing a lot of, and Ms. 
Turner kind of touched on it, is the need for an additional 
snack during the day. So with the remainder of my time, Ms. 
Turner can you just if there's anything else you want to share 
about why that is important.
    Ms. Turner. Absolutely. Thank you again for that question. 
Resources--everyone is not able to provide, especially with the 
pandemic, especially with job loss and food insecurity on a 
whole. Everybody is not capable of providing, and so it's 
important to take care of children who are not responsible for 
the State that they're in. They shouldn't go hungry because of 
access.
    Ms. Hayes. Thank you. Thank you so much. Madam Chair with 
that I yield back.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you Representative. Next, I 
recognize Representative Spartz. I don't know if you're here 
because you're not on camera, oh there you are. I recognize you 
for five minutes for your questions.
    Mrs. Spartz. Thank you, Madam Chair. I appreciate the 
conversation, and I think it's an important conversation, but I 
also you know, I look at a lot of government programs and the 
economy, and I'm noticing that they're very costly, very 
expensive, and not have as much value at the end of the one 
they're trying to accomplish, so definitely we have to look at 
how we can have much more accountability and return on 
investment.
    But also there also how we can look at some of that 
underlying causes, and what we are really trying to achieve to 
get people really to become self-sufficient, learn good healthy 
habits, eating habits. We really still we talk about you know 
having issues with obesity. We still have you know, a certain 
amount of children, in schools still have obesity issues, which 
is a big problem.
    So is there are any other part of this problem should we 
additional flexibility in choice. I think it will make it more 
efficient, and probably healthier and better for people, but 
Mr. Farrell is there any other things maybe wrap around 
services, around and other things that would be useful that we 
can educate mothers, and you know about some you know, maybe 
healthy eating habits and other things.
    Should we incorporate some additional things that could be 
useful?
    Mr. Farrell. I think continued education, Representative 
Spartz, which you have mentioned. Again, dairy is an example. 
13 essential nutrients, including calcium, Vitamin D, and 
potassium, you know, to make sure that mothers understand that 
that's important to their diets, and the diets of their 
children.
    You know I think within dairy at times as an example, there 
can be myths like full fat dairy foods. Is it good for you, or 
is it bad? And you know recent studies have shown that there 
are far more positive benefits in having full fled dairy foods, 
you know, it does not have negative health outcomes like 
obesity, diabetes.
    And so we've got to educate consumers. I think that's the 
biggest thing, and others have talked about you know how do we 
do a better job in store of making sure that WIC participants 
understand what products they can go to. I think Jessica 
mentioned that.
    I do think that's a really positive thing that we should 
try to accomplish.
    Mrs. Spartz. Maybe Ms. Garrett and Ms. Turner, you can add 
since you kind of work at that State level, and from research 
perspective because it seems to me until we educate people to 
make healthy choices themself, you know, nothing's going to 
happen. How are we going to do a better job?
    I recently went to the store and looked how many foods, I 
usually have a rule if it's more than five ingredients I'm not 
buying it OK, this is my personal rule, but I don't understand 
what is on the package, I am not buying it you know.
    But how we can educate people to make these healthy 
situations, because and then I think the interest will adjust 
to provide healthier products you know, but there are a lot. I 
just went to the store. I don't do much time shopping, I'm too 
busy, and I'll look at how many products are so unhealthy, and 
a lot of them have empty shelves, and I'm thinking this is 
pretty hard to stay healthy, made in this food.
    So any thoughts you have Ms. Garrett and Ms. Turner, I have 
a few minutes left.
    Ms. Garrett. OK. Well thank you for your question. So what 
we do in the WIC program is that we provide immense nutrition 
education. That is actually the cornerstone of our program. 
Many people think it's providing supplemental foods, but it's 
actually the nutrition education that provides the cornerstone, 
like we said before, that gives the young children a backbone 
by which to stand further in life.
    And so, we tried to streamline the nutrition education to 
meet the families where they are, and they're doing right now 
everything is virtual, but prior to COVID, we were doing 
individual nutrition education, group nutrition education, 
online nutrition education platforms, to meet parents where 
they are, so that we can ensure that they get the nutrition 
education without being a burden to them.
    And then also what we've done in creating our food labels 
that Ms. Burris spoke of, we call them WIC, but we call them 
wholesome, informed choices, which lets people know who are not 
receiving WIC, that these choices that have been made and put 
on our food package, are wholesome and informed choices for all 
individuals who are living in the Commonwealth of Virginia.
    So the dieticians that have looked at the food package and 
determined what foods need to be put on those are making sure 
Congresswoman Spartz, that it is healthy for all individuals.
    Mrs. Spartz. I'm sure that they look at this, you know, 
labels too. I need to make sure that people, Ms. Turner I have 
like only 2 seconds left, can you add something to it.
    Ms. Turner. Yes. Ms. Garrett covered a lot of it actually, 
thank you so much for the question. The best part about the 
CACFP, and child nutrition programs, is the education 
component, how it's built into the program, and you don't serve 
food and administer the program without adding nutrition into 
it from the child all the up until the adult.
    Mrs. Spartz. OK. Well thank you. I yield back.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you Representative. I now 
recognize Representative Leger Fernandez for five minutes for 
your questions.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Thank you so much Chair Bonamici, and 
to our witnesses for making sure that our mothers and our 
precious, precious, little ones are receiving the nutrition 
they need. You know across this country because of inequality, 
and because our Federal minimum wage is a poverty wage, many of 
our working families simply don't earn enough to provide 
nutritious food.
    And I think we need to focus on the importance of that 
investment, and that that is indeed taxpayer money well spent. 
You know earlier this month Secretary Vilsack visited my 
district, and spoke with a roundtable of nutrition experts, 
parents, farmers, you know I have an incredibly rural district 
with dairy farmers, all kinds, chili farmers, all kinds of 
farmers, and Native Americans.
    We discussed the importance of connecting the local farms 
to schools and programs like WIC because that also supports the 
local supply chains, which we saw was a problem in the 
pandemic. But it also helps the rural economy itself, you know, 
while providing families with healthy nutritious foods, 
connecting them to the farmers.
    Ms. Garrett and others, you spoke about you know the 
farmer's market role. Can you talk about what some of those 
additional benefits that we might see connecting WIC and 
farmers, connecting parents and their children at farmers 
market to the farmers. Share a little bit more of your 
experience regarding that.
    Ms. Garrett. OK. Here in Virginia we have the Farmer's 
Market Nutrition Program, and it's not as large as we would 
like for it to be, however, it does bring the local agriculture 
and our WIC participants together so that children and families 
can see where their food actually comes from.
    A lot of times at their grocery store they just think that 
you know food appears magically from a fairy that they have 
food here in the grocery store, but actually touching and 
actually providing income back into local economies is what we 
are trying to do in addition to providing healthy foods, 
letting people see this is where these foods come from.
    These are the individuals who are providing these foods to 
you so you can actually have that connection, that community 
connection. I think that we should look at increasing that 
farmer's market, that nutrition benefit to families so that 
they can actually enjoy more of those fresh fruits and 
vegetables that come from their communities.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. Right. And in New Mexico, in Santa Fe 
we actually double up the value because we know that that fresh 
food that's not sort of--that's not done at you know, 
industrial scales, is both healthier, but also more expensive.
    So I want to move on to talking about the impacts that the 
pandemic had on the rise in childhood obesity. In my State by 
the time that students reach kindergarten, 38 percent of 
American Indian students are overweight, or obese. You know, 30 
percent of Hispanic students, and 21 percent of white students.
    I know Ms. Garrett you shared in your written testimony 
that there is specific obesity prevention efforts. I'd love to 
hear how you think and, or other witnesses in the time I have 
left to talk about the importance of that, of addressing those 
issues.
    Ms. Garrett. So I'll speak very briefly ma'am. One of the 
things that we're also talking about in good nutrition 
education is how physical activity also couples with that. Even 
though in the pandemic we weren't able to participate together 
in activities, families were still able to go outside and play.
    So when we talk about some of the measures that we have as 
far as our WIC program is concerned, we're looking to provide 
low-fat food options for our families that are culturally 
appropriate for them as well. And so making sure that you're 
finding foods that are culturally appropriate, that are low in 
fat, and then integrating the need for physical activity along 
with that helps to reduce the incidence of childhood obesity, 
and also making sure that we do not inundate our children with 
sugary beverages and high sugar cereals and the like.
    Ms. Leger Fernandez. All right. I really appreciate the 
focus on the cultural appropriateness. You know there was a lot 
of blue corn grown in those farms, those local farms I talked 
about, which is a staple in Native American pueblos in my 
district, and yet there isn't an easy way to get those into the 
market, to get those into USDA, so we'll do that. Madam Chair, 
my time is about up, and so I will yield back.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you very much. And I see that 
they are calling votes I believe at this time. I'm going to 
recognize Mr. Fitzgerald for five minutes, and turn the gavel 
over to Representative Hayes, and then when I come back from 
voting I will take back over, so Representative Fitzgerald, 
you're recognized for five minutes for your questions. 
Representative Hayes you will preside until I get back.
    Ms. Hayes. Thank you.
    Mr. Fitzgerald. Thank you, Madam Chair. Just a couple of 
questions real quick for Mr. Farrell. Being from Wisconsin, and 
as Mr. Fulcher said earlier, you know there' s a lot of dairy 
in this State, and so I wanted to ask, it appears that milk 
consumption in some of the school programs has been declining 
over the last 8 years. Is there a simple fix like how about 
flavored milk?
    Mr. Farrell. Yes, for sure, that would be a simple fix that 
I think would really have a big impact Representative 
Fitzgerald. Good to be with you today. We've got a production 
facility in the West Bend which I know is in your district in 
Wisconsin.
    But yes, you know, flavored milk is an example. In 2012 
when USDA removed flavored milk, as well as higher fat milk 
varieties, consumption declined by more than 10 percent during 
the proceeding 5 years. And then when low-fat flavored milk 
returned, 58 percent of schools that were surveyed showed 
increased milk consumption.
    That change definitely made an impact. Flavored milk has 
the same nutritional benefits as regular milk, same thing with 
2 percent versus lower fat varieties. And so giving WIC 
participants more options, giving school programs more options, 
is going to allow us to give them the health benefits of dairy 
in a bigger way.
    Mr. Fitzgerald. Very good. And just one other question for 
you. While this hearing is about WIC and CACFP, I want to ask 
about sodium in the school meal programs, and what concerns do 
you have, if all, any? Target 3 of the sodium requirements 
could be instituted and there seems to be some concerns around 
that.
    Mr. Farrell. Yes, major concerns. The dairy industry is 
continuously making products as healthy as possible for 
consumers, and that includes sodium reduction. It's been a big 
initiative across our industry. But the Target 3 sodium limits 
being proposed for school meals, it's just beyond technological 
and food safety limits.
    It's going to actually increase risk in consumers, and I 
don't think we want to do that. Salt serves a functional and 
food safety purpose in the manufacturing process, and in the 
products even as they're out on the store shelves. It affects 
fermentation which you know helps us prevent the growth of 
pathogens.
    So you know I do think the Target 3 sodium limits could 
drastically reduce or eliminate cheese in school meals. I don't 
think that's a good thing, and so I think we need to just make 
sure that we fully understand the impacts.
    Mr. Fitzgerald. Thank you very much. Thanks for being here 
today, and Madam Chair I yield back.
    Ms. Hayes. Thank you for your questions. I now recognize 
Representative Mrvan, you have five minutes for your questions.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you, Chairwoman. At this time first I want 
to start off by saying I represent northwest Indiana, Lake 
County, part of this for 15 years I worked in serving as an 
elected official of the most vulnerable populations. My county 
of Lake County had 10.5 deaths per 1,000 when it came to infant 
mortality.
    With that, we talked about, or I heard return on 
investment. There was a study in the Journal of American 
Medical Association that came out on December 6 that found that 
babies born to WIC participation in vulnerable communities are 
33 percent less likely to die in the first year of life. That 
to me is a great return on our investment in prioritizing.
    And so I know that WIC, along with other collaborative 
partners made a major impact in infant mortality in my county, 
and I just want to express that to you, and Ms. Turner, all 
that you do for the most vulnerable populations.
    My question today is this Committee provided nearly 400 
million for outreach in program modernization work in WIC to 
try to recruit and retain more participants for this important 
program. Ms. Garrett, why is it important for the USDA and 
Congress to be focused on increasing recruitment and retention 
in WIC?
    Ms. Garrett. Well thank you for your question, sir. The 
fact that you just mentioned the return on the investment with 
your community in itself, and that you saw that there was--
according to the report that you just read, there's a 33 
percent reduction in infant deaths, is why we need to expand 
the outreach for the WIC program.
    It also is used to you know to help retain those people 
that are already on the program, to show them the benefits for 
those who are not on the program, and to retain those that are 
on the program the benefits that the program can provide to 
them. Not only is it about the supplemental food, but it's also 
about the nutrition education, it's also about the assessments, 
it's also about the referrals.
    A lot of times WIC is the first point of entry into 
healthcare for a lot of our participants, and so this is where 
we're able to catch a lot of those issues that would 
potentially present themselves as problems for our families 
later on in life. And so this money that is being provided for 
us, this funding, would then help to expand that, and also help 
to streamline the program that we have.
    You know we're always looking to modernize our program. As 
you've seen in the pandemic, we've had to make a lot of changes 
very quickly to make our program relevant as we move forward.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you, Ms. Garrett. And as I talked about, 
as an administer of emergency assistance, we participated in 
making sure we saw 3,500 people a year, and those families were 
required--or not required but were encouraged to look into the 
WIC program to change those statistics of childhood development 
outcomes, and also as we've talked about, the infant mortality.
    My second question, and I just want to say that was a 
coordinate effort to make sure that we kept recruiting and 
talking about it and uplifting the benefits of the WIC program. 
In addition to nutritional support and breastfeeding 
counseling, WIC participants receive health and immunization 
screenings?
    Ms. Burris, could you speak to the impact of these 
screenings in your community, especially the tests that may not 
always be conducted by a physician, such as blood lead tests.
    Ms. Burris. Thank you. So I had a personal experience. My 
son when he was 3, we had just entered into WIC, and he got his 
lead and his iron tests, and it came back high in lead. I would 
have never known because his normal pediatrician visits never 
tested for lead.
    So we had to go to the pediatrician and do three followups 
to see his lead levels drop, and we figured out what it was, 
but we would have never known. And even when I first I was on 
WIC for like a month when my daughter joined, because I was an 
exclusively breastfeeding mom, but I didn't realize that my 
iron was low. They had to check my iron.
    So just things like that, it just makes such a big 
difference, and it made me feel good that was there, because 
otherwise I wouldn't have known.
    Mr. Mrvan. Thank you, Ms. Burris. In closing I just want to 
say I've worked first-hand on this issue in making sure that 
the most vulnerable populations had access to food. The impact 
that it has, and the outcomes that studies show that children 
who are eating nutritious meals have value and also reducing 
the infant mortality, is something that one of the reasons why 
I'm here in Congress, is to make sure that we advocate for 
that.
    So going forward I just want to thank all the advocates who 
are doing what they can on a daily basis to make sure that 
people have access to this program. With that I yield back.
    Mrs. Hayes. Thank you so much Representative Mrvan. Our 
next Member should come from the republican side, 
Representative McClain, are you available for questioning? OK. 
So I'll go to our next democrat witness, who is Representative 
Bowman. Please unmute and ask your questions for five minutes.
    Mr. Bowman. Thank you so much Madam Chair. Am I unmuted? 
Yes, I think I am, yes thank you. Ms. Turner, thank you so much 
for your testimony today, and your work serving military 
families as a nutritionist for the Army, and also your work as 
President of the Maryland Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics, 
excuse me.
    Less than a year ago I was a principal for a middle school 
in the Bronx and providing after school programming for our 
students was a critical part of serving students and the 
community, providing a safe, nurturing, enriching place for 
students to be outside of regular school hours is a major 
priority I hear about for my constituents, especially in terms 
of protecting our youth from exposure to high rates of 
violence.
    You know from your work that no matter how high quality a 
program is in terms of enrichment offerings, if a child is 
hungry, everything else is secondary. For many children in my 
district the food they get from an after-school program might 
be the most nutritious source of food they'll get before the 
following day at school, through their school breakfast 
program.
    In addition to needing more out of school time programs 
overall, we need these programs to all be able to offer 
nutritious foods to the students they serve. What kind of 
barriers do after school programs, excuse me, after school or 
out of school time programs face in accepting--excuse me, 
accessing CACFP? How can we best alleviate these barriers?
    Ms. Turner. Hi. Thank you so much for your question. Some 
of it is knowledge about the program, not knowing how to get 
into the program, the paperwork barriers, the verification 
barriers that I spoke of in my testimony. To make it not as 
difficult, and not as cumbersome for on both the side of the 
program, and the side of the child and family, so that it's 
easy to enter the program and be able to receive the food.
    Mr. Bowman. Awesome. As you know Ms. Turner, COVID-19's 
harmful economic toll on families led to a spike in food 
insecurity because so much of this past year has been remote 
for students. We don't have complete, nor immediate visibility 
into child hunger that could emerge suddenly. That means a 
student and their family experiencing hunger can easily 
experience it in isolation, and without being connected to 
programs or resources to address this need immediately.
    The next school year is just around the corner. What are 
your thoughts on the need for tracking student hunger on a 
continuous basis, and how could the way we administer the CACFP 
program help in that important effort?
    Ms. Turner. Thank you so much. The main aspect of technical 
assistance and nutrition education as a way to reach people, 
and a way to inform them about what is available is helpful as 
well as you mentioned tracking could be a part of that to 
connect the two and bridge the gap between what is missing.
    Mr. Bowman. How can we support coordination and 
collaboration at the local and Federal levels between child 
nutrition programs, and schools, after school programs, and 
childcare settings? Do you have examples of that anywhere in 
the country where it's working really well?
    Ms. Turner. At this time there's not a specific example, 
but I can certainly get back to you if you will allow me to.
    Mr. Bowman. Well I appreciate that, absolutely. My office 
will be in touch and thank you for your testimony. Madam Chair 
I yield back.
    Ms. Hayes. Thank you, Representative Bowman. Again, 
Representative McClain are you available for your questions? 
OK, the next Representative on the democrat side is 
Representative Mfume. OK, I'm not really sure what other 
Members are available, so we're going to take a brief recess. 
There's votes going on right now, so that has something to do 
with it, so we'll take a brief recess and be back momentarily.
    (Recess.)
    Mrs. Hayes. I have handled the gavel back to the Chair and 
informed the Chair we are making progress here. If we were in 
the middle of a question my apologies.
    Mr. Vassar. Chair Bonamici, Chair Hayes had just recessed 
immediately before you sat down.
    Chairwoman Hayes. Oh terrific, OK. The recess is the call 
of the Chair. We will reconvene when we have more Members come 
back and join us thank you and when Chairman Scott comes back, 
we will reconvene.
    [Recess]
    Chairwoman Bonamici. OK. I have returned. I will reconvene 
the hearing of the Civil Rights and Human Services Subcommittee 
and recognize the Chairman of the Full Committee Representative 
Scott for five minutes for your questions.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you, Madam Chairwoman, can you hear me?
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Yes, we can hear you.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you. I appreciate the accommodation. 
Before I get to our questions, I'd like to take a moment to 
recognize Ms. Garrett who is a former constituent of mine, and 
a graduate of Hampton University in my district. Ms. Garrett, 
thank you for being with us today to discuss these very 
important issues.
    You are just a few minutes ago discussed the fact that WIC, 
investments in WIC actually saved money, $2.48 for every dollar 
spent. You also mentioned that it reduces--we just mentioned 
that it reduces our infant mortality. The way it does that is 
reduce low birth weight which is very expensive.
    Can you go into detail about how we save money on 
investments in WIC?
    Ms. Garrett. Yes. Thank you, Chairman Scott, for the kind 
words, and yes, a proud HVC Alum, Hampton University. So to 
answer your question sir we, just like Ms. Burris said earlier, 
we are able to detect many issues that present themselves early 
on in many (audio cut back in) women's pregnancies.
    And so what we're doing is that we, you know, periodically 
we are doing health checks on our pregnant women. We do weight 
checks. We are making sure that they are eating properly, 
they're eating to feed two. We're also assuring that many of 
the women are getting tested for gestational diabetes.
    And so, we're ensuring that a lot of the milestones that 
one that is pregnant would also meet, we're also following up 
on them, so ensuring that these women are healthy going into 
their pregnancy a lot of times will help to reduce low birth 
weight babies. And it will also help to deter and bring down 
the incidence of maternal mortality and morbidity by providing 
these women the nutrients that they need in order to have a 
successful and healthy pregnancy.
    Mr. Scott. And do you also reduce remedial education costs? 
Is that a cost savings too by investments in WIC?
    Ms. Garrett. A lot of times it is because like I said we 
are providing for children, the nutrients they need in order to 
start off on a health setting, on a healthy foot, and also 
making sure that the nutrition that they receive is appropriate 
for their development at that point.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you. Now you offer services that you 
normally require to be in-person that you're offering remotely, 
what services are we talking about?
    Ms. Garrett. So currently we are doing our certification 
appointments remotely, so those will be the ones that families 
present themselves in, in which they would have a full 
certification visit with--get their metric measurements taken, 
a nutrition assessment done, nutrition education done, those 
are done virtually, so either by video or by phone, and then 
also nutrition education is being presented to families through 
video and phone conversations as well.
    Mr. Scott. And do you lose very much by doing it remotely?
    Ms. Garrett. Actually we've increased by doing it remotely 
because it's done at the convenience of the parent and the 
family.
    Mr. Scott. OK. And how can we make it easier to participate 
in WIC?
    Ms. Garrett. Well some of the things that we can streamline 
is looking at our certification requirements, looking at the 
time that is necessary, and then to conduct an assessment 
appointment, and then look at how we can continue to have these 
relaxed physical presence requirements moving forward through 
WIC.
    Mr. Scott. OK. Mrs. Turner can you talk about the 
importance of combining summer and after school meals with 
education programing?
    Ms. Turner. Absolutely. When children learn all together 
and things aren't siphoned, they're able to absorb the 
knowledge pretty well. If you mix nutrition education with the 
other education they receive, with their favorite things, with 
colors and movies that they watch, they're able to recall this 
information and utilize it later to make healthier decisions.
    Mr. Scott. And how do you help their families as well as 
the mother and child, how do you help the whole family?
    Ms. Turner. Something we like to call learning up, 
especially when you teach young children. They're very excited 
about the things they learn, so they can't wait to get home and 
talk to their brothers and sisters and parents and grandparents 
about the new fruits and vegetables they tried, about what a 
whole grain is, and you'd be surprised that older people will 
learn totally new things that they might not have discovered 
before through the eyes of their children.
    Mr. Scott. Thank you so much. Thank you, Madam Chair, for 
the accommodation, thank you.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Chairman Scott. And it 
appears that there are no further Members to ask questions, so 
pursuant to Committee practice materials for submission to the 
hearing record must be submitted to the Committee Clerk within 
14 days following the last day of the hearing, so by close of 
business on August 11, preferably in Microsoft Word format.
    Only a Member of the Subcommittee or an invited witness may 
submit materials for inclusion in the hearing record, and the 
materials must address the subject matter of the hearing. 
Please submit materials to the Committee Clerk electronically 
by emailing submissions to [email protected].
    Again, I want to thank all of the witnesses for your 
participation today. Members of the Subcommittee may have some 
additional questions for you, and we ask you to please respond 
to those questions in writing. The hearing record will be held 
open for 14 days to receive those responses.
    And I remind my colleagues that pursuant to Committee 
practice, witness questions for the hearing record must be 
submitted to the Majority Committee Staff or Committee Clerk 
within seven days. The questions submitted must address the 
subject matter of the hearing, and I now recognize the 
distinguished Ranking Member Mr. Fulcher for a closing 
statement.
    Mr. Fulcher. Thank you, Madam, Chairman, and thank you to 
those who testified. You know we have this tendency to as 
Members of Congress, to throw money at problems, and sometimes 
that's just necessary.
    And I think all of us agree the importance of these 
programs and the importance of having strong nutritional value 
and just making that available to those who are vulnerable. And 
so we're in significant agreement on that. Where we disagree 
probably has to do with some of the access questions, what may 
be available in terms of dairy of course.
    We've talked about that a lot. And just the expansion and 
the necessity as to whether or not we are smarter in expanding 
the existing programs, or if it's wise to allow private and 
public to re-engage and take more of a responsibility when it 
comes to running these programs.
    So on the republican side at least from my standpoint, 
it's--and I try to be mindful of being wise stewards as 
taxpayers and making that available and leveraging our private 
entities and our partnerships in this effort. But Madam Chair 
it's educational. I thank you for your efforts, and I thank 
those who took their time to testify before us today.
    Please know that you're appreciated. With that I yield 
back.
    Chairwoman Bonamici. Thank you, Ranking Member Fulcher. I 
now recognize myself for the purpose of making a closing 
statement. Thank you so much to the witnesses for sharing your 
expertise and your stories. Today we focused on efforts in 
Congress to address childhood hunger, as well as our 
responsibility and opportunity to meet the needs of children 
and families to Federal nutrition programs, including WIC, and 
the Childhood and Adult Care Food Program.
    But from my perspective we have established not only at 
this Subcommittee hearing, but over the years, that these 
dollars spent are a good investment. Children are our future. 
Our families are so important. These programs are designed to 
give young children a healthy start in life and expand the 
access to nutrition services for families.
    And thank you again for the witnesses for explaining why 
that's important. Unfortunately, as our witnesses made clear, 
the pandemic caused an already alarming child hunger crisis to 
surge. The American Rescue Plan has helped to reduce rates of 
food insecurity, but too many Americans, especially people of 
color, are still experiencing food insufficiency.
    The ongoing needs in our communities across the country is 
why we must pass key proposals in the American Families Plan as 
well, and permanently reauthorize child nutrition programs. As 
I said at the start of the hearing our work remains unfinished. 
Until every child, infant and family has access to the basic 
nutrition they need for a strong start in life.
    I look forward to working with all of my colleagues to 
finally make that aspiration a reality. And thank you again to 
everyone for a productive hearing. If there's no further 
business without objection, this Subcommittee stands adjourned.
    [Questions submitted for the record and the responses by 
Mr. Farrell follow:]
[GRAPHICS NOT AVAILABLE IN TIFF FORMAT]

    [Whereupon, at 11:55 a.m., the Subcommittee adjourned.]

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