UNDERSTANDING THE FOOD STAMP BENEFIT FORMULA: A TOOL FOR MEASURING THE COMPONENT EFFECTS

This report develops an accounting tool for measuring how the average benefit amount in the U.S. Food Stamp Program is affected by each major component of the rules that determine the benefit level. This tool is used to compare the benefits received by different subpopulations, distinguished by poverty level, demographic makeup, household size, and region of the country. This simple decomposition complements more complex tools, such as microsimulation methods, which help policy analysts understand and evaluate the effects of detailed Food Stamp Program regulations.Food Stamp Program, benefit formula, income, household size, poverty status, deductions, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

THE FOOD STAMP BENEFIT FORMULA: IMPLICATIONS FOR EMPIRICAL RESEARCH ON FOOD DEMAND

To understand how food stamps affect food spending, nonexperimental research typically requires some source of independent variation in food stamp benefits. Three promising sources are examined: (a) variation in household size, (b) variation in deductions from gross income, and (c) receipt of minimum or maximum food stamp benefits. Based on results of a linear regression model with nationally representative data, 90% of the total variation in food stamp benefits is explained by gross cash income, and household size variables alone. This finding raises concern about popular regression approaches to studying the Food Stamp Program.Demand and Price Analysis,

More Than Just Food: The Diverse Effects of Food Assistance Programs

Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, I18, I38, Q18,

THE DISTINCT IMPACT OF FOOD STAMPS ON FOOD SPENDING

The Southworth hypothesis predicts that inframarginal food stamp recipients should choose the same bundle of goods, whether they receive coupons or cash. Empirical research has contradicted this prediction. Here, we present a model that retains some attractive features of the Southworth hypothesis, while relaxing the key assumption that appears to be incorrect. In particular, we allow different forms of benefits to have distinct effects on desired, or unrestricted food spending. Two categories of previously commonly used empirical models are evaluated as special cases of our more general model. We estimate this model using data from two cash-out experiments.Consumer/Household Economics, Food Security and Poverty,

THE EFFECT ON DIETARY QUALITY OF PARTICIPATION IN THE FOOD STAMP AND WIC PROGRAMS

Participants in the Food Stamp Program consume more meats, added sugars, and total fats than they would in the absence of the program, while their consumption of fruits, vegetables, grains, and dairy products stays about the same. Participants in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) consume significantly less added sugars, which may reflect the substitution of WIC-supplied juices and cereals in place of higher sugar soft drinks and cereals. These findings come from a study of low-income Americans using the Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals.Nutrition assistance programs, food intake, dietary quality, Continuing Survey of Food Intake by Individuals (CSFII), Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

Market and Welfare Impacts of COOL on the U.S.-Mexican Tomato Trade

A two-country, comparative static partial equilibrium model is used to simulate the ex ante market and welfare outcomes of U.S. country-of-origin labeling for the U.S.-Mexico fresh tomato trade. In all scenarios where consumers show a relative preference for U.S. tomatoes, Mexican tomato exports decline and U.S. production increases. Mexican trade losses using low- to mid-range consumer preference assumptions are 14% to 32% of the value of Mexican tomato exports to the United States and 1% to 3% of the total value of agricultural produce exports, partially negating the market access gains of NAFTA. Consumer effects are small and sometimes negative. Producer impact is the big effect, with transfer from Mexican to U.S. tomato producers.country-of-origin labeling, food labeling, trade-related food regulations, welfare effects, Crop Production/Industries, International Relations/Trade,

More Than Just Food: The Diverse Effects of Food Assistance Programs

For decades, from the 1940s to the 1970s, the goal of U.S. food and nutrition assistance programs seemed clear: to make sure low-income Americans could afford enough food. By pursuing this goal, the programs would protect program participants from hunger and also support demand for farm products. Today, about one in five Americans receives benefits from at least one of the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s (USDA) food programs. The major programs include the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), school meals programs—lunch and breakfast, and the Child and Adult Care Food Program. Despite the food programs’ goal of reducing hunger and improving nutrition, rising concern about overweight and obesity for all Americans has triggered arguments that targeted food benefits could be counter-productive. As a recent retrospective on a century of food and consumer economics explained, “The policy context for food assistance programs has changed in the past three decades.” (Unnevehr et al. 2010, p. 512)

The Decline in Vitamin Research Funding:A Missed Opportunity?

Background: The National Nutrition Research Roadmap has called for support of greater collaborative, interdisciplinary research for multiple areas of nutrition research. However, a substantial reduction in federal funding makes responding to these calls challenging. Objectives: The objectives of this study were to examine temporal trends in research funding and to discuss the potential consequences of these trends. Methods: We searched the NIH RePORTER database to identify NIH research grants and USASpending to identify National Science Foundation and USDA research grants awarded from 1992 to 2015. We focused on those that pertained to vitamin research. For the years 2000 to 2015, we examined funding trends for different vitamins, including vitamins A, B (one-carbon B-vitamins were considered separately from other B-vitamins), C, D, E, and K. Results: From 1992 to 2015, total federal research spending increased from similar to$14 to$45 billion (2016 US dollars). Although vitamin research spending increased from similar to$89 to$95 million, the proportion of grants awarded for vitamin research declined by more than two-thirds, from 0.65% in 1992 to 0.2% in 2015. Federal agencies awarded 6035 vitamin research grants over the time period, with vitamin A associated with the most research projects per year on average (n = 115) and vitamin K the fewest (n = 8). Vitamin D research projects were associated with the greatest average yearly project value ($34.8 million). Conclusions: Vitamin research has faced a disproportionate decline in research funding from 1992 to 2015. Insufficient federal research funding streams risk stalling progress in vitamin research and leaving important advancements unrealized

A MONTHLY CYCLE IN FOOD EXPENDITURE AND INTAKE BY PARTICIPANTS IN THE U.S. FOOD STAMP PROGRAM

WP 1997-04 March 1997This paper uses nationally representative data to describe a monthly cycle in food expenditure and food intake by food stamp recipients. Food expenditure peaks sharply in the fIrst three days after food stamps are received. Actual food intake drops at the end of the month, for some foods and some people, although food intake over time is always smoother than food expenditure. The food stamp cycle has implications for two areas of research: the measurement ofhunger and food insecurity in the United States, and the measurement ofthe impact ofthe U.S. Food Stamp Program