Pregnant and postpartum women on WIC now get $48 a month to spend on fruits and vegetables, and mothers who are fully breastfeeding get $53, under amounts the U.S. Department of Agriculture set for the federal fiscal year that began Oct. 1, 2026. Children get $27. WIC is the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children, and the fruit and vegetable money, called the cash-value benefit, loads onto the same card that pays for the rest of the monthly food package.

The 2027 amounts

The figures come from WIC Policy Memorandum #2026-6, issued Sept. 24, 2026, and signed by Sara Olson, director of the Policy Division in USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration. The amounts run from Oct. 1, 2026, through Sept. 30, 2027. Each is a flat monthly sum for every participant in the category, not an average or a ceiling.

The memo lists three groups. Children in food packages III and IV get $27. Pregnant and postpartum participants in packages III, V-A and VI get $48. The $53 amount goes to fully breastfeeding participants, and the memo’s table places partially, or mostly, breastfeeding participants in the same row.

What changed from last year

Only some groups got a raise. The memo says the amounts for children and breastfeeding participants rose by one dollar from the 2026 level. The $48 for pregnant and postpartum participants did not change. So a pregnant woman will see the same fruit and vegetable amount she would have seen last year, while a child’s benefit went up to $27.

The memo sets two smaller amounts as well. Participants who swap their full juice allotment of 64 fluid ounces for more produce get $3, the same as before. Infants 6 to 11 months old who receive jarred fruits and vegetables instead get $11 for the half substitution and $22 for the full one, also unchanged.

This year’s shift is small: a dollar for children and for breastfeeding mothers, and nothing for pregnant and postpartum women.

These WIC amounts hold through Sept. 30, 2027, and USDA adjusts them again each year under its own rule.

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How USDA sets the number

The adjustment is built into federal WIC regulations, 7 CFR 246.16(j), which require an annual inflation update to the base amounts. The memo explains the formula. USDA takes the average fresh fruit and vegetable price index for the 12 months ending March 31 of the prior fiscal year, compares it with the average for the 12 months ending March 31, 2021, and applies any increase to the base amounts. The price data come from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Increases are rounded down to the next whole dollar.

The memo says the 2027 adjustment is 12.8 percent over the 2022 base amounts. It also notes that USDA had to estimate one missing month, October 2025, using the geometric mean of the September and November 2025 figures, following BLS guidance.

The memo is guidance for state WIC agencies, which run the program locally. It does not impose new duties on them. States send questions to USDA’s Food and Nutrition Administration.

Who can get WIC

USDA’s eligibility page, updated Sept. 16, 2026, names five groups: pregnant women, postpartum women for up to six months after pregnancy ends, breastfeeding women until the baby’s first birthday, infants, and children up to their fifth birthday. Parents, foster parents and others raising children under 5 can apply for the children in their care.

Household income has to be at or below WIC limits, which depend on household size, and a pregnant household member adds to the count. Households with a member on Medicaid, SNAP or TANF may already be income eligible and can skip the income check. Every applicant gets a free health check, called a nutrition assessment, from WIC staff before enrolling.

The program is run through state and local WIC agencies. USDA’s WIC page, updated May 21, 2026, says the benefit comes on an eWIC card that “works just like a debit card” at WIC-approved grocery stores and farmers’ markets. Foods include fruits, vegetables, milk, eggs, beans, cheese and baby food, at no cost to participants.

Using the fruit and vegetable money

The dollar figure only matters if the card is used each month, so the practical step for a participant is to plan produce purchases around the monthly amount for the category. The amounts are monthly, and the memo’s table is the place to confirm which category a participant falls in, since food package numbers differ between children, pregnant and postpartum participants, and breastfeeding participants.

Families that are not on WIC yet but have a pregnant woman or a child under 5 can use the “Find WIC Near You” tool on USDA’s WIC page to reach the local agency, which handles the application and the health check.

The USDA memo is the record for the 2027 amounts, which end Sept. 30, 2027.

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This article was produced with AI assistance and edited for accuracy against the sources linked above.