General
- Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M.P., Gregory, C.A. and Singh, A., 2016. Household food security in the United States in 2015, ERR-215, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
In addition to reporting official food security statistics, this high-profile annual report and its appendix also include useful information about major nutrition assistance programs.
SNAP
- Farson, K., Fisher, S., and Lauffer, S., 2016. Characteristics of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program households: Fiscal year 2015. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Policy Support.
The most recent in a series of annual reports providing demographic and economic characteristics of SNAP households.
- Garasky, S., Kassim, M., Andres, R., Tenaglio, A., and Roy, M., 2016. Foods typically purchased by SNAP households. Prepared by IMPAQ International, LLC for USDA, Food and Nutrition Service.
This article stands out for its use of retailer scanner data to compare grocery food spending by SNAP participants and non-participants.
- Hoynes, H., Schanzenbach, D.W. and Almond, D., 2016. Long-run impacts of childhood access to the safety net. The American Economic Review, 106(4), pp.903-934.
Part of an influential series of articles by this research team on the public health nutrition impact of nutrition assistance program expansion in the 1960s and 1970s.
- Olsho, L.E., Klerman, J.A., Wilde, P.E. and Bartlett, S., 2016. Financial incentives increase fruit and vegetable intake among Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program participants: a randomized controlled trial of the USDA Healthy Incentives Pilot. The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, 104(2), pp.423-435.
The main food intake results from the first random-assignment evaluation of a financial incentive for healthy eating that operates directly through the SNAP EBT card.
WIC
- Diansheng, D., Stewart, H., Frazão, E., Carlson, A., and Hyman, J., 2016. WIC household food purchases using WIC benefits or paying out of pocket: A case study of cold cereal purchases, ERR-207, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
This report assesses WIC participants’ price sensitivity when purchasing cereals with WIC benefit compared to out of pocket spending, implications for WIC program costs, and potential strategies to minimize those costs.
- McLaury, K.C., Blue Bird Jernigan, V., Johnson, D.B., Buchwald, D. and Duncan, G.E., 2016. Variation in WIC cash-value voucher redemption among American Indian reservation communities in Washington State. Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition, 11(2), pp.254-262.
To assess potential redemption disparities in the usage of the WIC package cash-value voucher addition, this article compares voucher redemptions in reservation-based WIC clinics and non-reservation WIC based clinics.
- Thorndike, A.N., Bright, O.J.M., Dimond, M.A., Fishman, R. and Levy, D.E., 2016. Choice Architecture Increases WIC Fruit and Vegetable Purchases in a Latino Community: Randomized, Controlled Corner Store Intervention. Circulation, 133, pp. A03.
Building on the behavioral economics and nutrition assistance literature, this randomized control trial assesses the impact of implementing choice architecture in corner stores in a low-income, Latino community on storewide fruit and vegetable sales and self-reported fruit and vegetable purchases.
- Tiehen, L. and Frazão, E., 2016. Where do WIC participants redeem their food benefits? An analysis of WIC food dollar redemption patterns by store type, EIB-152, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
This report breaks down WIC participants’ purchases by retailer type (e.g., supermarkets, convenience stores) and looks at differences in purchasing patterns post-food-package revisions, in comparison to SNAP participants, and by state.
Child Nutrition
- Miller, G.F., Gupta, S., Kropp, J.D., Grogan, K.A. and Mathews, A., 2016. The effects of pre-ordering and behavioral nudges on National School Lunch Program participants’ food item selection. Journal of Economic Psychology, 55, pp.4-16.
This article adds to the discussion of lunchroom behavioral economic interventions by implementing a randomized-control trial to assess the effect of pre-ordering and nutritional nudges on selection of fruits, vegetables, and low-fat dairy.