Walmart Pilots WIC Expansion At Washington Stores

WASHINGTON — Families who rely on Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) benefits will be able to use them to shop online and place pickup or delivery orders at Walmart's 58 Washington locations, the retailer announced Friday.

Walmart is partnering with the U.S. Department of Agriculture and the Gretchen Swanson Center for Nutrition for the pilot program, which will initially include only stores in Washington and Massachusetts.

Officials expect the program will apply to 120,000 WIC participants in Washington, and the Gretchen Swanson Center will study its implementation and usefulness moving forward.

"WIC has demonstrated effectiveness across several health outcomes, including diet quality," said Amy Yaroch, the center's executive director. "Despite this, participants face known access and equity issues when shopping with WIC benefits. The COVID-19 pandemic has only added to and exacerbated these barriers. Households that participate in WIC should have the opportunity to shop for foods, especially those needed to address critical nutritional needs, the way anyone else shops for food, by ordering online."

The pilot project, scheduled to run through July 2023, is meant to serve as a blueprint for other states and retailers to expand online ordering with WIC benefits more broadly.

More information about online ordering with WIC is available via the Center for Nutrition.