The Women Infants Children program has been around since the mid-1970s. Although I was never a client, I have known some working families who were.

WIC is an income-based program, but more specifically, it is aimed at a certain demographic: “low-income pregnant and breastfeeding women, women who recently had a baby, infants and children up to 5 years old,” according to Michigan.gov.

With this program, you get help with your grocery bill on specific eligible items.

Here is the WIC income chart for Michigan residents. It’s pretty generous. You don’t have to be food stamp family to participate. A better comparison is whether your family would be eligible for reduced-price school lunches.

State officials report one out of every two babies born in Michigan receives WIC benefits.

Now, the traditional WIC selections such as milk, cheese, juice, infant formula and peanut butter are among those that can eat quite a bit into family funds.

But as one local mother told me a few months ago, the list was kind of limiting for those who are on medical restrictions or otherwise would eat only some of the allocation.

There are more options now for food choices. If you have been eligible, but didn’t see much benefit from participating, take another look.

Here are some of the media reports:

• National Public Radio’s Marketplace: Food makers hungry to change.
• Tampa Tribune: Program’s changes to help moms make healthier choices.
• KNBN-TV via MSNBC: Nutritional changes in the WIC program.

The agency that handles WIC for my local readers in Monroe County, Mich., is the Monroe County Health Department at (734) 240-7905.

Keep in mind that grocery costs are one of the easiest family budget categories in which to cut out-of-pocket expenses whether you seek formal assistance, aim your cost-saving efforts in the marketplace, or both. By cutting your grocery expenses, you’ll free up cash that can go toward another expense that you may not be able to get help with.