No. 3 GOP House member assails proposed limit on milk for WIC families; her facts were right; her prediction may not be

Jersey cows in Schodack Landing, N.Y. (Photo by AP)

When the Biden administration released its proposed changes for the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, or WIC, U.S. Rep. Elise Stefanik (R-N.Y.) called the plan "deeply flawed" and accused it of "further restricting milk choice for families and keeping the door open for more forced vegan juice consumption," reports Jill Terreri Ramos of Politifact.  

Stefanik, the third-ranking House Republican, often criticizes the administration and "represents a geographically large district in New York’s North Country, and many of the state’s nearly 3,600 dairy farms are in her district," Ramos notes.

Ramos found that the WIC plan "calls for reducing the amount of milk provided in all child, pregnant and breastfeeding participant food packages." Department of Agriculture Press Secretary Marissa Perry told her, "The change is 'modest,' and represents just a 3% reduction in WIC spending on milk and milk alternative." In 2020, the program served about 7 million people.

A WIC researcher at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Susan Gross, told Ramos: "Program participants have diverse needs, such as food allergies or being vegan, and they do not drink milk from cows. Program administrators want to explore whether other alternatives can be offered."

As for Stefanik's prediction that the proposed rule would lead to more "forced vegan juice consumption," Ramos writes, "We don’t fact-check predictions and that statement is outside the scope of this ruling. It should be noted, however, that based on the available evidence, WIC has not and will not force milk alternatives on anyone."