Every item in the store meets the specification of the program, said a cashier, Tracy Wynne. shop'' in Virginia Beach, is tucked into a small shopping center, next to a state health clinic that issues W.I.C. Proprietors said the stores had become popular because they offer convenient locations and superior service. The stores have found a niche in the market that Congress did not anticipate. Analysis of food costs in California and Texas shows that ''W.I.C.-only stores in these states have higher prices, on average, than other authorized retailers,'' Mr. Bost, under secretary of the Agriculture Department, which runs the program. ''The rise in W.I.C.-only stores is a fairly recent phenomenon,'' said Eric M. vouchers, not cash, for payment.Ībout 47 percent of all babies born in the United States each year participate in the program. Now a growing number of stores are selling only to W.I.C. The program, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children, or W.I.C., helps feed 7.7 million people each month by providing vouchers for infant formula, juice, eggs, milk, cheese, cereal and dried beans. Federal and state officials are expressing alarm about the proliferation of food stores that cater to low-income people but charge more than other grocery stores, thus driving up the cost of a major federal nutrition program.
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