WIC cash-value benefit: fruits and vegetables

What the benefit is

In the WIC food packages, fruits and vegetables for children and women are issued as a cash-value voucher instead of a fixed quantity of produce. A cash-value voucher is a benefit worth a stated number of dollars each month that can be spent on eligible fruits and vegetables. The maximum monthly allowances for women and children are in Table 2 to § 246.10(e)(10), and for infants in Table 1 to paragraph (e)(9).

This page works with the text as printed in the eCFR on the October 29, 2026 issue date. The monthly dollar figure is only a snapshot, because the table footnotes say the value is adjusted annually for inflation. We therefore show the printed base amounts and label them as printed, rather than presenting them as this month’s benefit.

The amounts printed in the table

Table 2 prints $24.00 for children in Food Package IV, $43.00 for pregnant and partially breastfeeding women in Food Package V, $43.00 for postpartum women in Food Package VI, and $47.00 for fully breastfeeding women in Food Package VII. Footnote 19 says the monthly value of the fruit and vegetable voucher is adjusted annually for inflation using fiscal year 2022 as the base year, as described in § 246.16(j).

The calculator maps each category to its printed amount. A State agency can tell you the current value for the fiscal year; the figure on your WIC card or benefit statement is the one that controls.

What it can buy

State agencies must authorize fresh fruits and vegetables and at least one other form: canned (shelf-stable), frozen or dried. A State may authorize more or all of the processed forms. The voucher can be redeemed for any eligible fruit and vegetable listed in Table 4 to paragraph (e)(12), and a State may not selectively choose which fruits and vegetables participants can buy, except as paragraph (b)(1)(i) allows. States must allow organic forms of WIC-eligible fruits and vegetables.

Table 4 also lists exclusions. For example, fresh herbs cut at the root or with the root intact are authorized, but spices, dried herbs, seeds, potted plants with vegetables, fruits or herbs, creamed vegetables and vegetables with added sauces are not. Beans bought with the voucher may include added vegetables and fruit but not added sugars, fats, oils or meat, and a State may choose to allow only lower-sodium canned vegetables for the voucher.

Women and children who need jarred foods

Footnote 22 covers children and women whose special dietary needs require pureed foods. They may receive commercial jarred infant food fruits and vegetables in place of the voucher, under conditions the footnote sets out. That is a tailoring option for individual needs, not a general alternative.

The infant option

For infants 6 through 11 months, a State agency may offer a voucher in lieu of jarred infant fruits and vegetables. Fully breastfed, partially breastfed and fully formula-fed infants can swap half (64 oz) or all (128 oz) of the jarred amount for a $10 or $20 voucher respectively, and the amounts are adjusted for inflation along with the women’s and children’s values. A State cannot issue this categorically. It is provided only after an individual nutrition assessment, and the caregiver must receive nutrition education about developmental readiness, safe preparation, storage and feeding practices.

Juice substitution

Children and women may choose to substitute a $3 voucher for the full 64 fluid ounces of juice, subject to the same inflation adjustment. It is an all-or-nothing swap: the rule says a partial substitution for juice is not authorized in the medical-documentation food package table. Whether a State offers this swap is set out in its own food list.

Where you spend it

Retail vendors and, where a State authorizes them, farmers and farmers’ markets can accept the voucher. The rules for market redemption, including split tender and no cash change, are on our WIC farmers market page. Printed vouchers must carry first and last dates of use, and the last date must be at least 30 days after the first, or 28 or 29 days in February.

Because the figures in the CFR are a floor of public information and not an account balance, this page cannot tell you what you have available this month. That is a question for your WIC clinic.

Sources

• 7 CFR 246.10, Supplemental foods: eCFR text current through the October 29, 2026 issue date. Read November 2, 2026.

Edition read: 7 CFR 246.10 (eCFR, current through the October 29, 2026 issue date). This page summarizes the rule and does not replace it.