Browsing by Subject "Food security"

Now showing 1 - 4 of 4
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    The economics of food, nutrition, and poverty
    (2019-07) Rolando, Dominique
    Low-income households around the United States experience difficulties with food insecurity wherein they struggle to secure enough food for all of their household members. This issue becomes even more complex when considering the nutritional makeup of the food that they are able to secure. This issue is of importance to public policy, especially given rising rates of diet-related diseases among low-income individuals. This thesis explores public policy efforts aimed at improving the consumption of healthy and nutritious foods for low-income individuals. In this dissertation I first investigate the impact of increasing the payout of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program payouts on low-income participants’ consumption of different food groups. Secondly, I compare the simulated impact on fruits and vegetables purchases of increasing the food budget of low-income households to providing them a discount on fruits and vegetables. Finally, I evaluate the preferences of food pantry clients towards healthy modifications to their food.
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    Household decisions related to food access and expenditure: essays on food insecurity and SNAP participation in the United States
    (2013-08) Tuttle, Charlotte
    Recent trends in food insecurity and participation in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program have highlighted the need to re-examine the effectiveness of the current SNAP as well as overlooked predictors of food insecurity. In Essay 1, this dissertation estimates the effect of the implementation of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act on food expenditure of SNAP participants and finds increases in benefit levels resulted in higher levels of food expenditure above and beyond the effect on total expenditure. Essay 2 examines the effects of energy price shocks on the probability of varying levels of food insufficiency and finds unexpected energy price shocks significantly affect the probability of each food insufficiency indicator. Finally, Essay 3 examines the relationship between time spent in food-related activities and food insecurity and SNAP participation and finds significant relationships between food preparation and food insecurity as well as eating and SNAP participation.
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    The Impact of Diet Preference on Agricultural Productivity and the Environment
    (2013-11) Cassidy, Emily
    Worldwide demand for crops is increasing rapidly due to global population growth, increased biofuel production, and changing dietary preferences. Meeting these growing demands will be a substantial challenge that will tax the capability of our food system and prompt calls to dramatically boost global crop production. However, to increase food availability, we may also consider how the world's crops are allocated to different uses and whether it is possible to feed more people with current levels of crop production. Of particular interest are the uses of crops as animal feed and as biofuel feedstocks. We find that, given the current mix of crop uses, growing food exclusively for direct human consumption could, in principle, increase available food calories by as much as 70%, which could feed an additional 4 billion people (more than the projected 2-3 billion people arriving through population growth). Even small shifts in our allocation of crops to animal feed and biofuels could significantly increase global food availability, and could be an instrumental tool in meeting the challenges of ensuring global food security. We also illustrate how shifting even slightly away from beef and pork can reduce environmental impact by reducing the water footprints and greenhouse gas emissions associated with diets.
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    Poverty measurement and depression symptomology in the context of welfare reform.
    (2011-01) Frazer, Monica Schmitz
    The present study addresses current debates in the literature by examining and comparing methods used to define and measure poverty, and examining the relationship between poverty and depression symptomology. The data come from a USDA-funded, NC-233 multi-state, longitudinal project entitled "Rural Low-Income Families: Tracking Their Well-Being and Functioning in the Context of Welfare Reform," commonly called "Rural Families Speak." The first wave of data includes 413 rural mothers who earned below 200% of the Federal Poverty Guideline and had at least one child under the age of 13. Data was gathered over 3 waves from 23 rural counties in 13 states, between May, 1999 and October, 2003. The study was timed to examine the effects of welfare reform rules that limit benefit receipt to 60 months in a lifetime. This study explores two significant issues related to poverty and depression symptomology. How to best measure poverty as it relates to depression symptomology is addressed in Phase 1, through a comparative analysis of six different poverty measures. Phase 2 utilizes two poverty measures that show the strongest relationship with depression symptomology to address the question of whether poverty causes depression, or depression causes poverty, through a comparison of social causation and social selection theories. Depression symptomology is determined through use of the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D). Phase 1 analysis reveals food security as the poverty measure with the strongest relationship to depression symptomology. Annual income calculated as a percentage of the Federal Poverty Guideline shows the second strongest relationship. Phase 2 analyses are completed in four data runs. Two data runs that include a series of regression analyses use food security and depression symptomology, interchanging each as the independent and dependent variables. The data runs are then repeated using the poverty guideline measure. Phase 2 results reveal limited support for social causation theory, with a few models showing marginally significant effects when food security in an earlier wave predicts depression symptomology in a later wave. Implications for using food security as a measure of poverty, policy implications, directions for future research, and application of findings are discussed.