Fact check: Should people avoid shopping early in the month to help those on food stamps?
The issue: Social media posts during the coronavirus pandemic have urged people not to go grocery shopping at the beginning of the month to ensure those on food stamps and other food benefits have access to what they need. These posts are inaccurate.
Why we’re checking this: These myths have been widely circulated including on Facebook and Twitter.
What you need to know: North Carolina has seen more 2,200 confirmed cases of COVID-19 since the first case was reported on March 3. Local and state governments ordered non-essential businesses to close to slow the spread of the coronavirus, leaving more people out of work or with reduced hours and in need of government assistance.
Food and nutrition services, commonly called food stamps, is a federal program that helps low-income families buy food. Benefits are based on a family’s size and monthly income.
The social media posts ask people to avoid shopping at the beginning of the month unless there is a “critical need” because that’s when food stamps are redeemed. But that is inaccurate. Food and nutrition benefits are released every other day between the first and 21st of each month based on the last number of the head of household’s Social Security number, according to the N.C. Department of Health and Human Services.
WIC is a nutrition program that provides healthy food and health-care support for women, infants and children in low-income families. WIC benefits also go out on different days throughout each month.
“There is not a specific time when an influx of WIC shoppers could be anticipated,” stated Kelly Connor, communications manager for DHHS.
Some versions of the social media posts ask people to not buy food with a WIC tag because WIC recipients can’t substitute items with others. “They will go without if supplies run out,” one post says.
It’s true that people can only use WIC benefits on approved WIC-eligible foods, but not all of those foods are marked with a WIC tag.
The federal government outlines the requirements for WIC-eligible foods. North Carolina reviews those requirements and uses them to create a state WIC food list. It’s up to individual grocery stores to label WIC items, and not all WIC-eligible items are labeled.
“Not all stores use WIC labels and those that choose to utilize the labels are usually not marking every WIC approved food in their store,” Connor said.
North Carolina received federal authority to temporarily increase benefits for March and April food stamp recipients. But those benefits also began being distributed every other day on April 1.
BEHIND THE STORY
MOREOur process
We check claims that are widely shared or published; are about a topic of concern to many of our readers; can be proven or disproven through facts; and could cause people to act or vote in a certain way. This topic met all the criteria.
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Our sources. Here’s where we found information and research on this topic:
NC Department of Health and Human Services news release.
Email interview with Kelly Connor, communications manager for NCDHHS.
NCDHHS website: https://www.ncdhhs.gov/assistance/low-income-services/food-nutrition-services-food-stamps and https://www.ncdhhs.gov/assistance/childrens-services/wic-special-supplemental-nutrition-program
NC WIC food list: https://www.nutritionnc.com/ewic/docs/ShoppingGuide-ENGLISH-02192020.pdf
This story was produced by The News & Observer Fact-Checking Project, which shares fact-checks with newsrooms statewide. It was edited by Deputy Metro Editor Mark Schultz and Politics Editor Jordan Schrader. Submit a suggestion for what we should check, or a comment or suggestion about our fact-checking, at bit.ly/nandofactcheck.
