Allshouse, Jane E.

AgEcon Search - Research in Agricultural & Applied Economics

Give to AgEcon SearchThe World’s Largest Open Access Agricultural & Applied Economics Digital LibraryThis document is discoverable and free to researchers across the globe due to the work of AgEcon Search.Help ensure our sustainability.AgEcon Searchhttp://ageconsearch.umn.eduaesearch@umn.eduPapers downloaded from AgEcon Search may be used for non-commercial purposes and personal study only. No other use, including posting to another Internet site, is permitted without permission from the copyright owner (not AgEcon Search), or as allowed under the provisions of Fair Use, U.S. Copyright Act, Title 17 U.S.C.No endorsement of AgEcon Search or its fundraising activities by the author(s) of the following work or their employer(s) is intended or implied.AMBER WAVESVOLUME 1 ISSUE 3G L E A N I N G S50ECONOMIC RESEARCH SERVICE/USDA AMBER WAVES ReleasesNew ReleasesFeeding ChildrenWhen School Is OutThrough the Summer Food ServiceProgram, USDA funds meals for children inlow-income areas when school is not in ses-sion. In July 2001, 2.1 million children partic-ipated in this program, about 14 percent ofthe number who received free or reduced-price school meals during the previous schoolyear.  The ERS report Feeding Low-IncomeChildren When School Is Out: The SummerFood Service Program (FANRR-30) presentsfindings from the first comprehensive studyof this program in more than a decade. Thereport describes how the program operates atall levels of administration, examines factorsthat affect participation by sponsors and chil-dren, and measures the nutritional quality ofmeals served and the extent of plate waste.Jane Allshouse, allshous@ers.usda.govFruit and Vegetable Snacks inSchools The 2002 Farm Bill provided $6 millionfor the Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program,which offered free fruit and vegetable snacksto children in 107 elementary and secondaryschools in Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, NewMexico, and Ohio during the 2002-03 schoolyear. A new ERS report, Evaluation of theUSDA Fruit and Vegetable Pilot Program:Report to Congress (E-FAN-03-006), showsthat the pilot was popular among most stu-dents, parents, State representatives, teach-ers, principals, and foodservice staff. Thereport also includes types of fruits and veg-etables offered to children and strategies fordelivery.  Jean Buzby, jbuzby@ers.usda.govOrganic Farming ExpandsThe rapid expansion of U.S. farmlandmanaged under organic systems in the 1990sis documented in U.S. Organic Farming in2000-2001: Adoption of Certified Systems(AIB-780). The uniform standards for organicproduction and processing adopted by USDAin October 2002 are expected to facilitate further growth in the organic farm sector.This report updates USDA estimates of landfarmed with organic practices for 2000 and2001 and provides new estimates on thenumber of certified organic operations ineach State. Catherine Greene, cgreene@ers.usda.govCommodity Markets and TradeERS Outlook reports provide timelyanalysis of major commodity markets andtrade, including special reports on hot topics.All reports are available electronically and canbe found at www.ers.usda.gov/publications/outlook along with a calendar of futurereleases. Joy Harwood, jharwood@ers.usda.govActivitiesCurrent ActivitiesLand Use ChangeERS economist Ruben Lubowski(rlubowski@ers.usda.gov) recently deliv-ered an address on “Determinants of Land-Use Change in the United States, 1982-1997”at the Yale School of Forestry andEnvironmental Studies in New Haven, CT, aspart of an interdisciplinary lecture seriessponsored by the Hixon Center for UrbanEcology. The series provides different per-spectives on policies aimed at environmen-tally sustainable land development.Lubowski discussed the relative importanceof different land-use determinants for theU.S. based on his econometric analysis ofdata from USDA’s National ResourcesInventory (NRI).Exemptions to Methyl Bromide Ban ERS researchers Craig Osteen (costeen@ers.usda.gov), Carmen Sandretto,and Margriet Caswell met with theEnvironmental Protection Agency (EPA)Methyl Bromide Critical Use Exemption[CUE] Economics Review Team recently todiscuss improvements in the CUE applicationform and review process. Exemptions can bemade if there are no economically feasiblealternatives to the use of methyl bromide. In deciding which applications to put for-ward to the parties of the Montreal Protocol,the U.S. can consider whether the lack ofmethyl bromide for a particular use wouldcause significant market disruption (see arti-cle in April 2003 Amber Waves). The ERSeconomists helped EPA review the first appli-cation for an exemption to the methyl bro-mide restriction last year. Applications fromthe first round of petitions are currentlyunder consideration by the internationalMethyl Bromide Options Committee. Thenext round is due in August. Tracking the History ofFood ProductsTraceability systems track the flow offood products through the supply chain.Such systems could be used to manageissues like bio-terrorism, country-of-originlabeling, Mad Cow disease, and geneticallyengineered foods.  Is mandatory traceability auseful and appropriate policy choice? Theanswer partially depends on whether firmswill voluntarily supply traceability data.  ERSresearchers are examining the rationale forand extent of tracing in the U.S. food chain and assessing where mandatory traceability may be desirable.  Barry Krissoff,barryk@ers.usda.govGauging Farmers’ Responses toNew Farm ProgramsThe 2002 Farm Act introduced counter-cyclical payments, a new type of programthat supports farm revenue for eight majorfield crops when prices are low.  Unlike tradi-tional price supports, payments are based onhistorical acreage and yields and not currentproduction. ERS researchers are looking tosee if counter-cyclical payments influencefarmers' planting and production decisionsand, if so, how and to what extent?  Becausecounter-cyclical payments interact with otherelements of agricultural programs, like directpayments, marketing loan benefits, and cropinsurance, ERS is investigating these interac-tions as well. Ed Young, ceyoung@ers.usda.govAMBER WAVESWWW.ERS.USDA.GOV/AMBERWAVESUses of Retail Scanner DataIn June 2003, ERS hosted the workshop“Use of Scanner Data in Policy Analysis.”  Asmarkets become more segmented and con-tracts replace spot transactions, market oper-ations become less transparent, and thedeclining volume of available data associatedwith those transactions become less repre-sentative and therefore less useful forresearch.  As a result, researchers are increas-ingly turning to retail scanner data to deci-pher market workings.  Not only are suchdata plentiful (although expensive), but, withlinks to demographics of individual house-holds, the data also provide a window on dis-tributional issues.  The workshop provided aforum in which experts discussed uniqueways that scanner data permit researchers toaddress today’s food policy issues.  The volu-minous quantity of the data, while an asset,can make working with the data difficult.Participants discussed various strategies ofaddressing methodological challenges inusing scanner data.  David Davis, ddavis@ers.usda.govKeeping Up with ObesityResearchIn April 2003, ERS host-ed the workshop “Economicsof Obesity,” jointly organizedwith University ofChicago’s Irving B.Harris School ofPublic Policy. Theworkshop broughttogether leadinghealth economistsfrom around thecountry along withresearchers fromERS and other Fed-eral agencies withthe goal of review-ing the current sta-tus of economicresearch on obesity and overweight and dis-cussing areas for future research.  Topics cov-ered included the role of technological changein explaining both the long- and short-runtrends in obesity, the role of maternalemployment in child obesity, the impact ofobesity on wages and health insurance,behavioral economics as applied to obesity,and the challenges in measuring energyintakes and physical activity. Jay Variyam,jvariyam@ ers.usda.govAgricultural Trade and Policy ReformIn June 2003, ERS cosponsored an inter-national conference “Agricultural PolicyReform and the WTO: Where Are WeHeading?” The workshop explored howchanges in the global food and agriculturalsector, in response to new technologies andthe evolving consumer demand for food,affect the international trade environment.Related policy dimensions discussed at theworkshop include agricultural policy reforms,WTO enlargement, new WTO negotiations onagriculture, and regional integration, includ-ing the enlargement of the European Union.The conference was cosponsored by theUniversity of California,  University ofCalabria (Italy), and the Farm Foundation,and other institutions. Mary Bohman,mbohman@ers.usda.gov Effects of Invasive Species on U.S. Agriculture Increased global commerce has expand-ed the potential for invasive pests to affectagriculture, prompting ERS to launch aresearch program on the economics of poli-cies to control inva-sive species. Toreview and discussresearch prioritiesfor the extramuralcompetitive grantsprogram, ERS, incollaboration withthe Farm Foun-dation, hosted aworkshop on theeconomics of inva-sive plant pests andanimal diseases in May 2003. More than 100representatives from higher education insti-tutions, USDA, other Federal and State agen-cies, industry, and nongovernmental organi-zations participated in the workshop, provid-ing perspectives on bioeconomic risk assess-ment, links between trade expansion andinvasive introductions, and the economics ofpolicies to exclude, monitor, and control plantpests and animal diseases. A summary of theworkshop is available at the ERS InvasiveSpecies Management briefing room(www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/invasivespecies).Utpal Vasavada, vasavada@ers.usda.govMeetingsG L E A N I N G S51Recent MeetingsSee information on all new ERS releases atwww.ers.usda.gov/CalendarDigital Stock JUNE 2003

Feeding Children When School Is Out

Abstract

Similar works

Full text

Available Versions

AgEcon Search - Research in Agricultural & Applied Economics