Texas. Bureau of Nutrition Services

During the time period of these records, the Texas Department of Health administered the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants and Children program (WIC) and the Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) through its Bureau of Nutrition Services. In 2004, state health agencies were reorganized under the new Texas State Health and Human Services Commission (House Bill 2292, 78th Legislature, Regular Session, 2003). One of the Commission's divisions, the Texas Department of State Health Services, now oversees the Nutrition Services Section, which administers WIC and FMNP.

The Texas Department of Health was created in 1879 as the Texas Quarantine Department, charged primarily with isolating and preventing epidemic diseases such as smallpox, cholera, and typhoid fever. Over the next century, the department became the state's primary agency for public health planning, services, and regulation. It assumed the name Texas Department of Health in 1978. The agency was headed by a commissioner of health, who oversaw an assistant commissioner, an executive deputy commissioner, and four deputy commissioners. The deputy commissioners were in charge of numerous bureaus that were involved with community health and prevention, health care financing, public health sciences and quality, and administration. The Deputy Commissioner for Community Health and Prevention administered the Associateship for Community Health and Resources Development, which included the Bureau of Nutrition Services among its three bureaus.

The Bureau of Nutrition Services, like its successor the Nutrition Services Section, directed and was responsible for policy development and enforcement for WIC and FMNP. The Bureau served as the state liaison to the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) and managed all special initiatives such as electronic benefits transfer. Within the Bureau, the Nutrition Education/Clinic Services Unit established standards and policies for WIC clinical services, developed targeted WIC nutrition education and breastfeeding promotion, and oversaw WIC infant and cereal rebate contracts. The unit established WIC-allowable foods in accordance with federal regulations, including oversight and approval of infant formula issuance. The Food Issuance and Redemption Services Unit established standards and policies for WIC-authorized grocers and maintained provider base for grocers and farmers' market associations. The unit also processed WIC food vouchers to pay grocers and managed claims adjudications and reconsiderations. The former Bureau of Nutrition Services also included the management of the Public Health Nutrition Program (PHN), which in 2004 was moved to the new Prevention and Preparedness Division, Disease Prevention and Intervention Section, Health Promotion Unit, Chronic Disease Prevention Branch.

The Special Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children (WIC) is a federally-funded program under the authority of the Child Nutrition Act of 1966, Section 17. The program is designed to provide food supplements, health care, and consumer education to eligible women and children who face nutritional risk. It is administered by the USDA - Food and Nutrition Service (FNS), through regional offices and state agencies. The WIC program was initiated by the State of Texas in 1974, the year WIC became a permanent federal program.

The Farmers' Market Nutrition Program (FMNP) was established by Congress in 1992 to allow WIC recipients the opportunity to obtain fresh, locally grown produce through farmers' markets and to increase community participation in farmers' markets. The FMNP is administered through a Federal/State partnership in which FNS provides cash grants to State agencies, such as state health departments, which develop plans to operate the programs that are approved by FNS and administer the FMNP. The State of Texas received funding from the USDA to join the FMNP demonstration project in 1989 (Texas Agriculture Code, Chapter 15, 71st Legislature, 1989) and sustained its participation when the FMNP was made an official federal program in 1992.