Jewish families in Texas receiving federal assistance will be able to receive assistance to buy milk products which are kosher and chalav Yisrael, milk supervised by a Jew. The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (commonly known as WIC), which serves 45 percent of all infants born in the United States, will provide observant Jewish families with the kosher dairy products, starting this April.
The WIC program, a division of the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), ensures the health of expecting and nursing mothers, and their children under age five.
Most staple foods provided by WIC, including eggs, beans, and juice, do not pose a kashrut problem for observant Jewish families. However, certain federal and state regulations left dairy products out of reach of observant families who demanded kosher dairy products. Rabbi Asher Block, Texas Regional Director of the religious Agudath Israel group, expressed his gratitude to the Texas Department of Health and Human Services “to ensure that the kosher needs of Jewish families throughout the state are acknowledged and accommodated.”
“Enabling these families to maximize their participation in this critical federal program will, we hope, help provide hard-strapped families financial relief, especially important during these times of economic uncertainty,” stated Dr. Zev Munk, Advisory Board Chairman of Agudath Israel of Texas.
Kashrut laws require that milk must be supervised by a Jew from the time of milking. However, many Jews in the United States rely on a ruling by Rabbi Moshe Feinstein that cow milk, which is regulated by the U.S. federal government, can be consumed without Jewish supervision.