Review of WIC
Food Packages
An Evaluation of White Potatoes
in the Cash Value Voucher
LETTER REPORT
Committee to Review WIC Food Packages
Food and Nutrition Board
Kathleen M. Rasmussen, Marie E. Latulippe, and Ann L. Yaktine, Editors
INSTITUTE OF MEDICINE
OF THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
Washington, D.C.
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. AG-3198-D-14-0050_0001-0005 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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International Standard Book Number-10: 0-309-33924-3
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Suggested citation: IOM (Institute of Medicine). 2015. Review of WIC food packages: An evaluation of white potatoes in the cash value voucher: Letter report. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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COMMITTEE TO REVIEW WIC FOOD PACKAGES
KATHLEEN M. RASMUSSEN (Chair), Professor of Nutrition, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
GAIL G. HARRISON (Vice Chair), Professor Emeritus, Department of Community Health Sciences, Center for Health Sciences, University of California, Los Angeles
SUSAN S. BAKER, Professor and Co-Chief, Digestive Diseases and Nutrition Center, Department of Pediatrics, Women and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo
MARIANNE P. BITLER, Professor, Department of Economics, University of California, Irvine
PATSY M. BRANNON, Professor, Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
ALICIA L. CARRIQUIRY, Professor of Statistics, Iowa State University
DAVID E. DAVIS, Professor, Department of Economics, South Dakota State University
MARY KAY FOX, Senior Fellow, Mathematica Policy Research, Inc.
TAMERA J. HATFIELD, Assistant Professor, Obstetrics and Gynecology, Division of Maternal and Fetal Medicine, University of California, Irvine
HELEN H. JENSEN, Professor of Economics and Head, Food and Nutrition Policy Division of CARD, Iowa State University
RACHEL K. JOHNSON, Robert L. Bickford, Jr., Green and Gold Professor of Nutrition, Professor of Medicine, University of Vermont
ANGELA ODOMS-YOUNG, Assistant Professor, Department of Kinesiology and Nutrition, University of Illinois at Chicago
A. CATHARINE ROSS, Professor of Nutrition, Dorothy Foehr Huck Chair, Department of Nutritional Sciences, Pennsylvania State University
CHARLENE RUSSELL-TUCKER, Chief Operating Officer, Connecticut Department of Education
SHANNON E. WHALEY, Director of Research and Evaluation, Public Health Foundation Enterprises WIC Program
Consultants
MEI CHUNG, Research Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health and Community Medicine, School of Medicine, Tufts University
SUZANNE P. MURPHY, Researcher (Professor) Emeritus, University of Hawaii Cancer Center
IOM Staff
MARIE E. LATULIPPE, Study Director
BERNICE CHU, Research Associate
AMBAR SAEED, Senior Program Assistant
ANN L. YAKTINE, Director, Food and Nutrition Board
Reviewers
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the National Research Council’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
CHERYL A. M. ANDERSON, University of California, San Diego
RONNETTE BRIEFEL, Mathematica Policy Research
JOHANNA T. DWYER, Tufts Medical Center
KAREN GLANZ, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
PHILIP GLEASON, Mathematica Policy Research
LUCIA L. KAISER, University of California, Davis
RONALD E. KLEINMAN, Massachusetts General Hospital
DENISE M. NEY, University of Wisconsin–Madison
THERESA A. NICKLAS, Baylor College of Medicine
PATRICIA O. RACE, New York State Department of Health
JOANNE L. SLAVIN, University of Minnesota
PARKE E. WILDE, Tufts University Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by John W. Erdman, Jr., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and Elena O. Nightingale, Retired Scholar, Institute of Medicine. Appointed by the National Research Council and the Institute of Medicine, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.