Essays in Food Security in Latin America and the United States

Abstract

This dissertation comprises three essays related with the problem of food insecurity (i.e., lack of access to enough and varied food required by households for their daily activities) in middle and high-income countries. The first chapter, "Subsidized Health Care and Food Insecurity: Evidence from Colombia", suggests that participation in a public-funded health care insurance for the poor is associated with a reduction on the probability of being food insecure. This result principally holds for rural households. The second chapter, "The Effects of Rising Staple Prices on Food Insecurity: The Case of Tortilla in Mexico" provides evidence on how increases in the price of tortilla, the most important staple in the country, is related with higher household food insecurity rates in Mexican states. Moreover, these price surges are more relevant when they take place in grocery stores---that sell low-quality tortillas---rather than locally-owned, small-scale tortillerias, specialized in selling freshly-made tortillas. The third chapter, "Food Price Fluctuations and Household Food Insecurity in the United States, 2005-2010" studies the association between food prices and household food insecurity in this country, showing that the price of grain and dairy-based products has the greatest association with higher food insecurity rates among American households during the Great Recession.