Circle Food Store Can Again Accept WIC Assistance Thanks to Sen. Landrieu
Senator sent letter to USDA urging Department to lift WIC moratorium
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WASHINGTON –U.S. Senator Mary L. Landrieu’s, D-La., today announced that Circle Food Store is now certified to participate in the Women, Infants and Children (WIC) assistance program, which is authorized by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) and operated by the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals (DHH). Nine years ago, Circle Food closed due to Hurricane Katrina. After reopening this year, Circle Food was unable to participate in WIC due to state and federal moratoriums on the authorization of new vendors for the program in Louisiana. Senator Landrieu wrote to the USDA in May, urging it make an exception to the moratorium to exempt stores, like Circle Food, that were previously authorized for WIC but closed because of natural disaster or renovation. Read the letter. “Circle Food first opened in the 1930s as the first African-American owned and operated grocery store in New Orleans and has participated in the WIC program since USDA launched the program in the 1970s. It is vital that Treme’s struggling mothers and their young children have the opportunity to use WIC vouchers at a full grocery store like Circle Food, which offers a wide selection of fresh fruits and vegetables for its shoppers,” said Sen. Landrieu. “Circle Food reopening last January was an ongoing symbol of recovery after Hurricane Katrina and I am proud to have been able to help this store and others like it participate in WIC.” In response to Senator Landrieu’s letter, USDA agreed that, “the moratorium should not exclude existing, previously-authorized WIC stores that are rebuilding their facilities due to natural disasters or renovating their buildings,” and decided to modify their regulations to make an exemption for such stores. Read the full response here. “It's a great day at Circle Food Store- we are now an authorized WIC vendor! Through the hard work and efforts of Sen. Landrieu, who led our fight during this battle all the way to Washington, we are victorious! It's good to know you can depend on your government officials to act on your behalf- thanks again to Sen. Landrieu who made this all possible,” said Dwayne Boudreaux, owner of Circle Food. With this change, Circle Food Store became eligible to reapply for WIC and was officially certified to participate in the program today.
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