WASHINGTON, DC—Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (D-CT) today urged United States Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to reject a proposed change to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC). The change, buried in an explanatory statement that accompanied the fiscal year 2014 government funding bill, would allow WIC funding to be used to purchase the currently excluded white potato. DeLauro’s letter to Vilsack can be read in its entirety here.

“Fresh white potatoes are not currently included in supplemental food packages because the research overwhelmingly shows that white potatoes are not lacking in the diets of low-income women and children,” DeLauro wrote to Vilsack. “Further, while white potatoes can make an important nutritional contribution in the diet, the Institute of Medicine, when providing recommendations to USDA in the development of these food packages, conducted a thorough review of available evidence and found white potatoes to be consumed in sufficient quantity by the eligible WIC population, consistent with dietary recommendations. The Institute of Medicine further found other fruit and vegetable consumption to be lacking in the diets of WIC participants.”

In the 38 year history of the WIC program, Congress has never specified what must be included in the WIC food package. The non-partisan, science-based Institute of Medicine is responsible for providing recommendations to the Department of Agriculture on what should be included in the WIC food package. The WIC food package is the list of what foods can be purchased with WIC funds.

DeLauro is a former chairwoman of the subcommittee responsible for funding the Department.of Agriculture WIC provides federal assistance for the healthcare and nutrition of low-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, and infants and children under the age of five.