Barbie Anderson is trying to conserve the milk her three young children drink in case she doesn’t get her WIC benefits on October 15 as scheduled.
Though Anderson and her husband both work, they have depended on the federal food assistance program to stretch out their grocery budget since their older son was born nine years ago. The money is especially important because the prices are very high at the closest supermarket to their rural northern Minnesota home, with a gallon of milk costing more than $5.
The WIC benefits her 3-year-old son receives allow her to purchase oranges and orange juice – which she considers vital to strengthening the children’s immune systems so they don’t have to go to the doctor – and to pick up essential items. It’s the only public assistance the family receives.
“We don’t have the money to buy milk, eggs and everything that the kids need right now,” said Anderson, who works in billing part-time, while her husband works in a lumberyard.
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