Meet the woman behind WIC: A Q and A with Georgia Machell

In July, the National WIC Association — the nonprofit education and advocacy arm of the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or WIC — named Georgia Machell president and CEO.

Machell isn't new to WIC's mission. She has worked for the organization for nearly a decade and served as NWA's interim president and CEO for nearly a year before stepping into the permanent role, becoming only the third head of the organization since 1990.

Under her leadership, NWA led the successful advocacy effort to secure an additional $1 billion in congressional funding for WIC, which it says allows the program to keep pace with rising enrollment.
 
But WIC continues to face uncertainty when it comes to predictable and reliable funding, in part because it is the only federal nutrition program that is discretionary funded, says NWA, which is currently exploring mandatory funding for WIC.

To learn more about Machell's vision for the future of WIC as well as how the fresh produce industry can play a role in helping to ensure at-risk women, infants and children have access to fresh fruit and vegetables, The Packer recently sat down with Machell over Zoom.

The Packer: Congratulations on becoming the third permanent head of the National WIC Association since 1990. What is your vision for making WIC stronger in the coming years as well as helping to increase at-risk women, infants and children's access to healthy foods like fresh produce?

Machell: It goes back to what the National WIC Association is here to do, which is protecting and promoting the WIC program. No. 1, our role is to make sure that WIC has the resources it needs to serve every eligible participant.

We're also really focused on making sure that the services provided through WIC are participant centered. What we mean by that is making sure that participants have agency in that experience.

One of the things that came out clearly from the last review of the WIC food package is just how important choice and flexibility is. As a philosophical approach, it's valuable across the WIC participant journey — from the moment someone learns that they're eligible for the program to the point at which they are cooking and consuming the foods they've bought with their benefits.

Let's talk about funding for WIC. In July, the Senate Appropriations Committee voted to advance a bill that included nearly $7.7 billion for WIC in fiscal year 2025. Where do things stand with funding now, and what is at stake if WIC doesn't receive the full financial support it seeks from the government?

The short answer is we're in a much better place than we were this time last year, which we are very grateful for. We are encouraged by both of the proposed budgets that have come from the House and the Senate.

I do need to clarify one point, which is around the Senate proposal. There was actually a rescission in that of about $300 million, so it does fall short of the president's budget. We're also tracking closely on riders that would impact the implementation of the final food package rule.

But we are encouraged as to where we are in this moment, and our goal is to make sure that we never find ourselves in a situation where we have to even consider introducing waitlists again, [as we haven't had them] in 30 years.

I can't emphasize enough how frightening this process was last year for our members who are on the ground, charged with delivering WIC services, and not knowing how and if that's going to happen.

We're grateful for the collaborative support we've seen as we advocate for full funding of the program. And I know folks from [the produce] industry have been very supportive there as well. So, we're grateful that all of the stakeholders across the WIC program are seeing the critical need to ensure that first and foremost we have the funding we need to be able to operate.

The fresh produce industry has watched WIC's call for full funding closely. We understand the critical importance of increasing the world's access to healthy foods in the form of fresh fruits and vegetables. What role can the fresh produce industry play in ensuring at-risk women, infants and children have access to these nutritious foods?

I love that question. I think there's a huge role that your industry can play. I think one of the things that is important to recognize across WIC is that WIC impacts different stakeholders in different ways, and it's important to be explicit in what those are and what those look like.

Everyone is very used to hearing us talk about the health impacts of WIC, but there's also a business impact that WIC has when we work with food manufacturers and associations.

The increased value of the fruit and vegetable benefit has the potential to have a strong impact on retailers and growers. We're doing a lot of work with farmers markets right now, so I think we need to be very clear about the impact of WIC — yes, it's about health, but it's also beyond that. There's impact [in terms] of money spent in communities as well as increasing opportunities for people to experience different fruits and vegetables.

We recently conducted a participant satisfaction survey and got responses from almost 40,000 WIC participants from across the country. The thing they said drew them to WIC was the fruits and vegetables — that was one of the biggest draws of the entire program.

So, I think it's really important for your industry to know that what they are providing is incredibly valued by the families who participate in this program.

What are the current demands on WIC in terms of number of people in need, the number of people served and the nutritious foods needed to promote health among an at-risk population?

Currently, WIC serves 6.7 million people across the country. That sounds like a big number, but it's important to put that in context of the number of people who are eligible for the program. We're currently only serving about 53% of participants who are actually eligible. So, that for us sets a clear trajectory of where we need to focus our efforts. We're not reaching everybody who should be participating in the program.

There are a lot of different ways folks are making strides in closing that gap. And I think the modernization piece is huge, as is listening to participants to understand why they're drawn to the program.

Going back to the survey that showed fruits and vegetables are such a big draw, we would love to see campaigns that really emphasize the value of fruits and vegetables that families are receiving through WIC, because I think part of the work we have ahead of us is to close that gap [in participation].

Why is WIC not reaching everyone it should?

There are a number of different reasons, and there's a lot of research out there that demonstrates just how complex it is to increase participation in WIC. I'd say that the COVID-19 pandemic gave us some core insights into what participants do value, and I think going back to this idea of flexibility and choice in how they experience and access the program in a way that is convenient is really important.

There was a lot of pre-pandemic research on the barriers to participating in WIC, and those include everything from transportation barriers to time barriers to the complexity of the process to become certified. The modernization efforts that we've seen in the last few years have been targeted at addressing those pieces.

We're confident that over the next few years we will see that gap reduce, but it's critical that we listen to participants and their needs and desires to make sure we are providing a WIC program that meets families where they are.

Given food deserts and other issues around access to fresh, such as access to online ordering, how is WIC addressing these challenges?

These are the nuts we are trying to crack right now. There's a number of pilots in the works at the moment that are exploring how online ordering can be operationalized. It is something we have heard from participants that they would really like to see.

I think you can't look at those issues in a vacuum. For example, we know that access to internet is a critical issue in a lot of rural areas. So, how can we think about that as it relates to these modernization pieces that we're working on right now?

We're in a place where there's a lot of pilot and exploratory work to really come to grips with what the issues are and how they can be addressed so we can provide optimum services to families.

Moving forward, I think you will be hearing more from NWA over the coming years about the Farmers Market Nutrition Program. That's something that we're quite invested in, and we're in the process of doing some landscape work to really understand what the current status of the Farmers Market Nutrition Program is and then what needs to happen for more agencies to be able to engage with that as a resource.

What role does WIC play in terms of nutrition education, and where does fresh produce fit into the equation?

Nutrition education is one of the core pieces of the WIC program. Everyone who participates in WIC is offered nutrition education that's tailored to their family's specific needs. It's everything from how to prepare the foods you can purchase with your WIC benefits to how to get your 3-year-old to eat peas. So, it really is focused on the individual's needs.

One of the things we have heard from participants — and we've seen in survey findings as well — is that with the increase of the cash value voucher for fruits and vegetables, participants have felt more comfortable introducing their children to more foods because the risk of using a limited budget for fruits and vegetables isn't as extreme as it was. That is really heartening when it comes to nutrition education and expanding the palates of young children as well.

We know in the nutrition world that it takes many, many, many attempts to introduce food to a child before it's something they're going to want again and again. So, if we can create opportunities for that type of food introduction through the nutrition education that WIC provides and the food benefits that we provide, then we feel like we've got a winning recipe.

As WIC celebrates 50 years, what are some of its landmark accomplishments? And as the head of NWA, what do you hope to achieve on WIC's behalf in the years ahead?

Fifty years is incredible. We're all proud of how much this program has done and the number of people served. The scale feels universal in a way — the scale of impact that this program has had. We have 50 years of evidence of the impact of this program, and it is really strong evidence.

Reflecting back on this last year, our biggest win is, of course, securing the funding that the program needed to operate last year. That was a really harrowing process, and we feel good that the funding was secured. That's obviously one huge win.

The final food package rule is another big win. That's something that had been a long time coming. Not only is it going to provide that choice and flexibility to WIC participants, but it also reminds us that this is a program that is built on evidence and has scientific integrity, and that's something that we're also committed to protecting.

Looking forward, we want to make sure that we're elevating WIC to the people who aren't already cheering. We want to make WIC a household name. Sharing the value of WIC with the wider population is one way we can elevate the importance and value of this program, because it really is a national treasure.