Nutrition program also benefits farmers.

• Position: STATESTATS

Established by Congress in 1992, the Women, Infant and Children (WIC) Farmers' Market Nutrition Program helps provide fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables to poor women and children while helping to expand sales at farmers' markets. WIC recipients receive coupons, worth up to $30 per year per recipient, to purchase fresh, unprepared, locally grown fruits, vegetables and herbs. Nutrition advice is also provided to help recipients know how to select, store and prepare the fresh produce.

In FY 2005, 37 states, Washington, D.C., five Indian tribes and two terrritories offered the program and 2.6 million WIC participants received farmers' market benefits. More than 14,000 farmers, 2,700 farmers' markets and 2,000 roadside stands participated, resulting in more than $23.4 million in revenue to farmers.

Federal funds support 100 percent of the food costs of the program. The farmer gets reimbursed by a bank or a coordinating state agency. Federal funds also cover 70 percent of the administrative costs; states are required to fund the remaining 30 percent of administrative costs. A few states, such as Washington and Oregon, provided additional funds for food costs in 2006.

To encourage use of the coupons, states have moved the time and location of farmers' markets to weekdays and locales near WIC offices, and publicized the program better through WIC's nutrition education program. Since not all the coupons...