USDA finally extends WIC pandemic waivers, just a week before they were to expire
The USDA on Monday extended a series of flexibilities in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children for the duration of the Covid-19 public health emergency. Pandemic-related waivers for the program, commonly known as WIC, have allowed participants to apply for benefits remotely, expanded pick-up options, and broadened the scope of eligible products.
High exposure to pesticides linked to higher risk of birth abnormalities
A UC-Santa Barbara study of 500,000 birth records in the San Joaquin Valley from 1977-2011 found that high exposure to pesticides as a result of living near farm fields appeared to increase the risk for women to give birth to a baby with “abnormalities” by 9 percent, said the Independent. …