As a kid growing up on the West Side, I remember my grandmother using food assistance coupons at least twice a month to help out with our family’s  groceries. Thousands of families in Illinois access healthy foods, health care and more through the same federally funded Special Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program for Women, Infants, and Children. 

In Chicago, however,  your options to make the most out of WIC coupons depends largely on your ZIP code thanks to a discriminatory distinction detailed in a recent report by four Illinois-based nonprofits, including the Greater Chicago Food Depository and the Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law. 

To access WIC coupons, families must choose a food clinic located in the area where they apply for benefits. Eligible participants are then issued either orange or blue coupons, which can be redeemed to meet their nutritional needs. 

Orange or blue. The color difference is not purely aesthetic. Instead, it highlights an unjust racial classification embedded in our efforts to reduce food insecurity and promote healthier child births.

Read more at The Chicago Reporter