The Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a nutrition program that provides nutrition and health education, breastfeeding support, healthy food and referrals to other services for Maine families that qualify. WIC supports women and children with nutritious foods during critical times of growth and development.
The WIC Program is federally-funded by USDA’s Food and Nutrition Services.
The Purpose of The Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program
The Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program (FMNP), like WIC, is a program of USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service. Combined with Maine’s WIC Nutrition Program, its focus is to increase the use of fresh, unprocessed, locally grown fruits and vegetables by WIC participants.
The second purpose of the program is to increase WIC participants’ awareness of Farmers Markets and local foods.
Eligible WIC participants are issued FMNP benefits in addition to their regular WIC benefits. These benefits can be used to buy eligible foods from farmers, farmers' markets or roadside stands that have been approved by the state agency.
Authorized WIC farmers are to redeem the regular Maine WIC Fruit and Vegetable Benefit, also known as a Cash Value Benefit (CVB). These benefits are distributed to WIC participants year-round.
Any type or variety
Conventional or Organic
Bagged fruits and vegetables
Cut fruit and vegetables (without dip)
Garlic (not on a string)
Not allowed:
Decorative or painted vegetables/pumpkins.
Maine FMNP Approved Fruit and Vegetable
Maine WIC Farmers must:
Grow at least 50% of the produce for sale to WIC customers.
Label any produce that was grown by someone else with the name and location of the farm it came from or label local.
FMNP benefits can be used to purchase fresh, unprocessed Maine-grown fruits and vegetables from a WIC authorized farmer. These are examples of foods that can be purchased using FMNP benefits:
Apples
Artichokes
Asparagus
Beans (green or yellow)
Beets
Beet Greens
Blackberries
Blueberries
Bok Choy
Broccoli
Brussels Sprouts
Cabbage
Carrots
Cauliflower
Celery
Corn
Cranberries
Cucumbers
Eggplant
Garlic
Grapes
Greens
Herbs (fresh only)
Kohlrabi
Leeks
Lettuce
Melons
Mushrooms
Onions
Parsnips
Pears
Peas
Peppers
Plums
Potatoes
Pumpkins
Radishes
Raspberries
Rhubarb
Rutabaga
Scallions
Shallots
Spinach
Strawberries
Squash (summer or winter)
Tomatoes
Turnips
Zucchini
The following are examples of foods that cannot be purchased with FMNP benefits:
We are very excited to have our Maine farmers redeem WIC Fruit and Vegetable Cash Value Benefits (CVB). In Feb we will start the rollout with all farmers that have winter hours of operation, then continuing to rollout with remaining farmers. Once you have registered and downloaded the app, you will need to contact us to test-run an eWIC transaction.
To accept WIC Fruits and Vegetables CVB, you will need:
An active email address
A valid Farmer Agreement singed with Electronic Benefit Transfer (EBT) content
A phone or device able to accept WIC & FMNP benefits (Android OS or iPhone IOS) with cellular service or WIFI.
Additionally, you will need to:
register with Solutran our EBT processor,
download the app and
be eWIC Certified by our office.
Please contact us at wic.vendor@maine.gov to schedule an eWIC certification.
eWIC is a benefit delivery method that allows WIC participants to access their benefits electronically. The system allows participants to generate a barcode.
What are the benefits of eWIC for WIC farmers?
The benefits of eWIC are invaluable to the Maine WIC Program. Farmers will enjoy advantages that include, but are not limited to the following:
eWIC benefits are secure and issued more efficiently
The opportunity for fraud and diversion of eWIC benefits is reduced
Reimbursements/settlement for eWIC transactions within two business days
Less error prone, effective dates, no check errors or bank fees
How will the eWIC work at checkout?
WIC participants will provide farmers with a barcode. Farmer will scan barcode to redeem Fruits & Vegetables benefits. See redemption steps below.
If I currently accept SNAP EBT, can I automatically accept the WIC card, too? No. If you are currently an authorized WIC farmer in good standing, you will be eligible to accept eWIC by registering with Solutran and downloading an app to process eWIC transactions via a barcode.
Are SNAP and eWIC benefits on the same card? No. SNAP and eWIC cards are separate and redeemed differently. WIC farmers are only able to redeem WIC fruit and vegetable cash value benefits via a barcode provided by WIC participant.
Check this video, where we cover eWIC processing: doing a balance inquiry, purchase, and void last transaction. Video link (click here)
1. WIC customer will provide a barcode (generated by their mobile app or printed).
2. On your smart phone open S3 Merchant Link mobile app. Select Purchase from the main menu.
3. The S3 Merchant Link mobile app displays transaction tips. Once read, select Continue
4. The Product Scanner screen displays. Scan the cardholder’s barcode on their Bnft mobile app or from a printout (obtained from the cardholder portal) and select Produce Item.
5. Enter the Item Price and select the appropriate Product/Category from the list of eligible items, e.g., apples, potatoes, carrots, tomatoes, etc. which are displayed at the bottom of the screen. Select continue.
6. The screen displays the entered item details (bag of apples for $5.00) for verification.
To enter more items, select Add More Items and repeat previous step, or to complete the transaction, select Continue.
The S3 Merchant Link mobile app asks receipt method email or no receipt. Select option and submit transaction.
7. The screen displays a transaction summary.
Select one of the following options:
OK– Select this option if all items are eligible for the purchase (i.e., displayed in green) and the cardholder wants to proceed
Void Transaction – Select this option if an item is ineligible (i.e., displayed in red) or the cardholder wants to void the transaction for whatever reason
8. On completing the purchase, the screen displays a notification message.
WIC farmers cannot offer a WIC customer incentives that you do not offer to all your other customers. You must always treat a WIC customer the same as you would any other customer.
If the WIC Program detects overcharges by an authorized farmer, it will establish a claim against the farmer. The Program will provide the farmer with an opportunity to justify or correct the farmer overcharges. If satisfied with the justification or correction, the WIC Program will adjust the proposed claim accordingly. If following the justification or correction a claim against the farmer remains, the WIC Program will issue a final claim. The final claim must be paid within 30 days of issuance or the farmer agreement will be terminated. Claims against farmer are not subject to administrative appeal.
For new and current Farmers who attend interactive trainings must train all employees who may act as a cashier in how to transact WIC/FMNP benefits. Training sessions are performed via Microsoft® Teams.
Equitable Treatment- Treat WIC customer as any other customer. Same quality and cost as that sold to other customers.
Bag Fees – WIC does not cover bag fees. The customer must pay the bag fees. Never provide a cash refund to the WIC customer for items purchased with WIC of FMNP benefits.
Substitutions - WIC customers can only buy what is listed on their benefits available balance. No substitutions are allowed.
Full purchase - WIC customers are not required to buy full WIC or FMNP benefit available.
Rain check - farmers are not to issue "rain checks" for any WIC or FMNP food. WIC customers can use those benefits elsewhere or at another time (before the benefit expiration date).
The Maine WIC Program sanction system is predominantly a pattern-based sanction system. The Program may initiate administrative action to assess a civil money penalty, terminate for cause, or disqualify farmer for non-compliance on the basis of an incident of violation or a pattern of violations.
The Maine WIC Program will issue a warning letter for the initial incident of a state or federal-level violation prior to imposing sanctions, with the following exceptions:
The Department determines that notification of the farmer will compromise the compliance investigation;
The violation warrants disqualification after one incident;
A federal-level mandatory sanction must be imposed after the first incident; or
The violation is detected as the result of an inventory audit.
Prior to terminating for cause, the WIC Program will consider whether it would result in inadequate participant access. In rare cases, the WIC Program might decide that disqualifying a farmer would cause undue participant hardship. In these situations, the WIC Program might elect to assess a civil money penalty rather than disqualify the farmer.
We would like to know about any problems or concerns you have with WIC customers or processing WIC transactions. The problem may be a misunderstanding. Some customers may be new to WIC or do not understand the transaction procedures. Sometimes a WIC customer, or any customer, can be challenging. Please assist them, in a discreet manner, to resolve the conflict. Feel free to report WIC customer issues Call: 207-287-3991 or email: WICVendor@maine.gov.
The farmer must comply with the following requirements to ensure that no person shall, on the grounds of race, color, national origin, age, sex or disability, be excluded from participation, be denied food, or be otherwise subjected to discrimination, under the Civil Rights Act. Find out more at hhs.gov/civil-rights.
Per the American Rescue Plan Act of 2021 ‐ Maine will temporarily increase the Cash‐Value Benefits (CVB) for fruit and vegetable through March 31, 2022.
Maine WIC Nutrition Program Department of Health & Human Services Center for Disease Control & Prevention 286 Water Street Augusta, ME 04330 207-287-3991 1-800-437-9300 TTY: Maine Relay 711
