Food program won’t allow delivery
Ordering food online for home delivery is a lifeline for many during the coronavirus pandemic. But people who rely on public food assistance, such as CalFresh, the state’s version of food stamps, and WIC, a supplemental nutrition program for lowincome women, infants and children, have been required to personally shop at stores with their benefit cards, thus increasing their risks of contagion.
For CalFresh, that changed starting Tuesday, when California said recipients could order online for deliveries from Walmart and Amazon. The state had asked the federal government to expedite online purchasing so vulnerable people reliant on CalFresh — seniors, people with disabilities and others — could use delivery to avoid inperson interactions at stores. Scott Murray, a spokesman for the California Department of Social Services, said the state is working to bring other retailers on board as quickly as possible.
“It certainly makes it easier for us to do our part to keep ourselves and the community safe by remaining isolated,” said Richard Steenson, 56, a CalFresh recipient who is homeless and currently in isolation at a South of Market hotel because he has tested positive for the coronavirus. “It’s good that our resources can now be used for our benefit and to stimulate the economy, rather than languishing.”
But it’s still a mixed bag for him, Steenson noted. Soon he’ll be moved to a homeless shelter at either Moscone West or the MultiService Center South. Delivery fees, which are not covered by CalFresh, are waived for orders over $35, but that’s “a lot to spend in one chunk when you don’t have a fridge,” he said via email. “Great for families but not tightbudgeted singles like me.”
Meanwhile, the 1 million California residents who use WIC do not have the option of home delivery, even though they are lowerincome people who often do not have cars but do have infants and small children, making it extra challenging to get to the store.
“Online ordering would definitely help, especially now with the COVID19 crisis,” said Kenya Pierce of Richmond, whose three children are 1, 7 and 12. “I really try to avoid going into stores and even taking my children out.”
Pierce, who works as a community services coordinator for a domestic violence program, buys online from Safeway and Target. During the pandemic crisis, she sometimes forgoes using her WIC benefits because she’s reluctant to visit stores in person. But the $70 a month in benefits, which pays for milk, fruits and vegetables, wholegrain breads, peanut butter, beans and canned salmon, is definitely helpful for her family’s budget, she said. Her wife is home on disability leave from a warehouse job.
WIC benefits do not roll over from month to month, so unused benefits are forfeited.
Multiple states have requested waivers for online WIC ordering and delivery, said Melissa Cannon, senior advocate at California Food Policy Advocates, in an email. Her group and other advocates put out a statement this week highlighting why it’s crucial to allow online ordering and delivery for WIC.
WIC benefits are structured so recipients get a list of foods that they can choose from at participating stores, Cannon said. The lists are based on the age of a child and whether the mother is pregnant, postpartum and breastfeeding. Monthly benefits average out to about $44 per person in California.
The massive job losses engendered by shelterinplace orders have plunged hundreds of thousands of Californians into desperate circumstances where food assistance is suddenly vital, as evidenced by huge lines at food banks.
“In a moment of such crisis, with all of us focused on keeping our families safe — and fed — we need to make it as easy as possible for people to access nutritional food,” said Hilary Dockray, senior policy analyst with Alluma, a nonprofit social enterprise that provides technology and policy support for agencies that manage benefits programs, in the advocates’ statement. “WIC participants ... should have the same opportunity to purchase food online as everyone else in our state . ... These families face other challenges in accessing support, but this is one barrier that’s easily removed.”
The U.S. Department of Agriculture, which oversees WIC, said it does not have any pilots planned or occurring for online purchases. WIC covers only certain approved food, and by law all the purchases must occur in the presence of a cashier, it said. However, if stores offer online ordering only for WIC-approved items, participants could order online and then pick up and pay in person using their WIC card, it said.
But Cannon said large grocery stores are reluctant to allow curbside pickup for WIC recipients because of the concern about someone ordering and not paying.
The California Department of Public Health, which administers WIC for the state, did not reply to an email requesting comment.
“We applaud the new availability of online shopping for (CalFresh) customers, but why would we not extend the same service to the women, infants, and children who rely on WIC?” said Jared Call, senior advocate at California Food Policy Advocates, in the statement. “Grocery delivery helps families avoid inperson interaction at stores and adhere to stayathome orders.”