Food Spending Declined and Food Insecurity Increased for Middle-Income and Low-Income Households From 2000 to 2007

From 2000 to 2007, median spending on food by U.S. households declined by 12 percent relative to the (rising) cost of USDA’s Thrifty Food Plan, and by 6 percent relative to the (rising) Consumer Price Index (CPI) for Food and Beverages. Over the same period, the national prevalence of very low food security increased by about one-third, from 3.1 percent of households in 2000 to 4.1 percent in 2007. The deterioration in food security was greatest in the second-lowest income quintile, in which the prevalence of very low food security increased by about half. These estimates, based on data from the nationally representative Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement, are corroborated by corresponding declines in food expenditures by middle- and low-income households in the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Consumer Expenditure Survey. The decline was largest in the second-lowest income quintile, in which average CPI-inflation-adjusted spending for food declined by 16 percent. The declines in food spending by middle- and low-income households were accompanied by increases in spending for housing and, in the two lowest income quintiles, by declines in income and total spending.Food spending, food expenditures, food security, food insecurity, consumer expenditure survey, current population survey food security supplement, Agricultural and Food Policy, Consumer/Household Economics, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty,

A Comparison of Household Food Security in Canada and the United States

Food security—consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy life—is essential for health and good nutrition. The extent to which a nation’s population achieves food security is an indication of its material and social well-being. Differences in the prevalence of household level food insecurity between Canada and the United States are described at the national level and for selected economic and demographic subpopulations. Associations of food security with economic and demographic characteristics are examined in multivariate analyses that hold other characteristics constant. Comparable measures of household food security were calculated from the nationally representative Canadian Community Health Survey Cycle 2.2 (2004) and the U.S. Current Population Survey Food Security Supplement (2003-05). Based on the standard U.S. methodology, the percentage of the population living in households classified as food insecure was lower in Canada (7.0 percent) than in the United States (12.6 percent). The difference was greater for the percentage of children living in food-insecure households (8.3 percent vs. 17.9 percent) than for adults (6.6 percent vs. 10.8 percent). These differences primarily refl ected different prevalence rates of food insecurity for Canadian and U.S. households with similar demographic and economic characteristics. Differences in population composition on measured economic and demographic characteristics account for only about 15 to 30 percent of the overall Canada-U.S. difference.Agricultural and Food Policy, Food Consumption/Nutrition/Food Safety, Food Security and Poverty, Health Economics and Policy, Institutional and Behavioral Economics, International Development,

MEASURING CHILDREN'S FOOD SECURITY IN U.S. HOUSEHOLDS, 1995-99

The capacity to accurately measure the food security status of children in household surveys is an essential tool for monitoring food insecurity and hunger at the most severe levels in U.S. households and for assessing programs designed to prevent or ameliorate these conditions. USDA has developed a children's food security scale to meet this measurement need. The scale is calculated from 8 questions in the 18-item food security survey module that ask specifically about food-related experiences and conditions of children. The scale measures the severity of food insecurity among children in surveyed households and identifies - in the most severe range of the scale - households in which children have been hungry at times because of a lack of household resources for food. The reliability of the children's food security scale is assessed, and the scale is compared with the household-level food security scale. Details are provided on how to calculate the children's food security scale from the questions in the standard food security survey module. The prevalence of hunger among children in U.S. households is estimated by applying the newly developed children's food security scale to data from the nationally representative Current Population Survey Food Security Supplements for the years 1995-99. Prevalence estimates are presented for all U.S. households and for subgroups defined by household structure, race and ethnicity, income, and rural/urban residence.Food Security and Poverty,

The Nomenclatural Status of Saperda Inordata Say (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae)

Excerpt: Confusion as to the identity and proper name of our common Saperda on trembling aspen, Populus tremuloides Michaux, in eastern North America should be clarified. The confusion has arisen from three reasons: (1) LeConte failed to distinguish S. concolor Lec. (1852) from S. irornata Say (1824); (2) Say\u27s type material was destroyed or lost which makes verification impossible; and (3) S. inornata varies from light to dark in overall appearance. The former two points are discussed here and the latter will be covered in a separate article. Authors since LeConte\u27s time have used a variety of binominal and trinominal designations for this species. In 1924 J. 0. Martin suggested that the name inornata, which had been placed in the Genus Mecas, really belonged in the Genus Saperda and that S. inornata should be reinstated replacing LeConte\u27s concolor which Martin, followed by Breuning (1952), considered a synonym of inornata. Despite Martin\u27s suggestion, S. concolor is in common use today. However, a search of the literature produced evidence which substantiates Martin\u27s claim that inornata must stand (Nord, 1968). A summary of this search is presented here in detail and a neotype has been proposed so that the nomenclature will be stabilized (Nord and Knight, 1970)

The Geographic Variation of Saperda Inornata Say (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) in Eastern North America

Excerpt: During the summers of 1962 and 1963 a study of the life history and behavior of what was thought to have been Saperda moesta LeConte in trembling aspen, Populus tremuloides Michaux, was completed in northern Michigan (Nord, 1968). After the field study, it became apparent that the original identification was doubtful. Furthermore, there was a possibility that two species were present in the study areas, thus the biological data collected may have represented not one but two species

Challenges of measuring body temperatures of free-ranging birds and mammals

The thermal physiology of most birds and mammals is characterised by considerable spatial and temporal variation in body temperature. Body temperature is, therefore, a key parameter in physiological, behavioural and ecological research. Temperature measurements on freely moving or free-ranging animals in the wild are challenging but can be undertaken using a range of techniques. Internal temperature may be sampled using thermometry, surgically implanted loggers or transmitters, gastrointestinal or non-surgically placed devices. Less invasive approaches measure peripheral temperature with subcutaneous passive integrated transponder tags or skin surface-mounted radio transmitters and data loggers, or use infrared thermography to record surface temperature. Choice of technique is determined by focal research question and region of interest that reflects appropriate physiological or behavioural causal mechanisms of temperature change, as well as welfare and logistical considerations. Particularly required are further studies that provide opportunities of continuously sampling from multiple sites from within the body. This will increase our understanding of thermoregulation and temperature variation in different parts of the body and how these temperatures may change in response to physiological, behavioural and environmental parameters. Technological advances that continue to reduce the size and remote sensing capability of temperature recorders will greatly benefit field research

The Distribution of Saperda Inornata and Oberea Schaumii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) within the Crowns of Large Trembling Aspens, Populus Tremuloides

The larvae of Saperda inornata Say and Oberea schaumii LeConte inhabit the stems of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides Michaux) root suckers and the twigs of larger trees. Nord et al. (1972a, 1972b) reported the biologies of these species in Upper Michigan and northern Wisconsin. S. inornata has a one or two year life cycle, probably depending on how early the egg is laid. Most (77.5%) 0. schaumii develop in three years while 5.0% require only two years and 17.5% require four years to develop. Knight (1963) described the distribution of galleries made by S. inornata and 0. schaumii in the crowns of large trembling aspen, P. tremuloides, in Upper Michigan. Similar distribution data were gathered from 180 large trembling aspen felled in a survey designed to determine the relative abundance of S. inornata and 0. schaumii in stands of different site quality (Nord and Knight 1972b). The analysis of that distribution data and comparisons with that of Knight (1963) are presented here. Inter- and intra-specific competition in light of the results and other behavioral information are discussed

The Importance of Saperda Inornata and Oberea Schaumii (Coleoptera: Cerambycidae) Galleries as Infection Courts of Hypoxylon Pruinatum in Trembling Aspen, Populus Tremuloides

(excerpt) Trembling aspen, Populus tremuloides Michaux, and bigtooth aspen, P. grandidentata Michaux, are hosts of numerous species of injurious insects and microorganisms (Harrison 1959). Only a few of those organisms, however, are directly responsible for mortality of healthy trees. The fungus Hypoxylon pruinatum (Klotzsche) Cke. is most important in that respect, killing 1-2%o f the standing volume annually in the Lake States (Anderson 1964). It invades and spreads in cambial tissue, killing it and eventually the branch or stem by girdling. Initially, a canker appears as a sunken, yellowish-orange area in the bark (Anderson 1956). In a later stage the outer bark raises in blister-like patches and sloughs off exposing blackened, crumbling cortex