Children’s HealthWatch submitted letters to USDA Secretary Vilsack and Senator Stabenow to express serious concern about potato industry lobbying efforts advocating that white potatoes be included in WIC food packages (the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children).

Allowing special interest lobbying from the potato industry would encourage lobbyists for other foods to launch similar efforts, regardless of what the science shows or what women, infants, and children actually need. Watering down WIC’s nutritional benefits could compromise one of the most proven-effective programs for women, infants, and children in the country.