Dept. of Agriculture reinstates Circle Food Store’s WIC status

By Mason Harrison
Contributing Writer

New Orleans’ iconic Circle Food Store, after months of lobbying federal officials, was given the green light September 18 to begin accepting WIC vouchers despite state and federal moratoriums that prevented the decades-old grocer from participating in a program administered by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Store owner, Dwayne Boudreaux, hailed the decision as a positive reflection of persistent political action. His efforts were supported, in large part, by the state’s senior senator, Democrat Mary Landrieu.

“It’s a great day at Circle Food Store—we are now an authorized WIC vendor,” Boudreaux said in a statement from Landrieu’s office. “Through the hard work and efforts of Sen. Landrieu, who led our fight during this battle all the way to Washington, we are victorious! It’s good to know you can depend on your government officials to act on your behalf—thanks again to Sen. Landrieu who made this all possible.”

The authorization comes as Louisiana struggles to right its supplemental nutrition program for women, infants and children, which has been plagued by cost overruns and mismanagement of funds. The program was halted in Louisiana by federal officials until changes in the program became satisfactory. New vendors cannot be sanctioned in the state while the federal moratorium remains in effect.

But Boudreaux, along with Sen. Landrieu, argued that the 7th Ward store was not a new applicant under the program due to its previous status as a WIC vendor and should be exempted from the moratorium. “Circle Food has been a WIC-authorized vendor since the program’s inception in the 1970s. Now that the store has reopened, the Federal moratorium on WIC stores prohibits the Louisiana Department of Health and Hospitals to re-certify Circle Food to participate in WIC,” Landrieu argued in a May 30 letter to agriculture secretary, Tom Vilsack, charged with lifting the moratorium.

“However, in a neighborhood with a poverty level 103.7 percent greater than the New Orleans average and 147.9 percent greater than the Louisiana average, it is vital that WIC participants have the opportunity to use their vouchers at a full grocery store that offers a wide assortment of fresh fruits and vegetables. … I respectfully request that USDA grants explicit approval for Circle Foods to be WIC-certified.”

Landrieu’s efforts paid off this month when the department lifted its restriction in a Sept. 12 letter to the senator stating, “We agree that the moratorium should not exclude existing, previously-authorized WIC stores that are rebuilding their facilities due to natural disasters or renovating their buildings.”

The Circle Food Store remained closed after flood waters inundated the structure during Hurricane Katrina.

Landrieu applauded the department’s decision and the return of WIC vouchers to the store in a statement: “Circle Food reopening last January was an ongoing symbol of recovery after Hurricane Katrina and I am proud to have been able to help this store and others like it participate in WIC.”

This article originally published in the September 22, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.