Overview
Improved nutrition has been a key goal of all modern societies. Sound
nutrition frees a nation and its people to pursue goals that improve the
human condition. A healthy and well-nourished population is more productive
and able to focus its energies on the provision of goods and services
associated with a highly developed society. In 1900, households relied
primarily on local food production, and the predominant nutritional problems
were low caloric intake and inadequate intakes of certain vitamins and
minerals. Today, a hallmark of the American agricultural system is that
consumers enjoy year-round abundance of nutritious and affordable foods.
With prosperity, however, comes new challenges. More
overview...
Related Briefing Rooms
Features
The Consumer Data and Information Progam: Sowing The Seeds of Research—Changes in the American public’s food consumption and purchases in recent decades, together with advances in medical knowledge of dietary effects on health, have heightened awareness of the importance of understanding what people eat and where and why they eat it. In response to the growing need for improved data collection related to food consumption, the Economic Research Service established the Consumer Data and Information Program (CDIP) in ERS Fiscal Year 2005. Over the past 5 years, CDIP investments have provided data to help understand price changes, market demand, and consumer reactions to unforeseen events and disruptions. The data also indicate how market developments and consumer knowledge shape diet quality and health outcomes, thus helping policy officials assess performance of the U.S. food and agriculture system. This administrative report outlines the major investments in new data under the CDIP, highlighting the value of each investment’s contribution to supporting the mission of ERS to inform decisionmakers.
Food, Nutrition, and Time Use PatternsA new data survey on how Americans spend their time can inform food assistance and nutrition policies and programs. This information also will allow the study of obesity, eating patterns, and time use; time use patterns by food stamp recipiency status; and the relationship between the time use patterns of parents and their children's participation in school meal programs.
The U.S. Food Marketing System: Recent Developments, 1997-2006—Major recent developments in the U.S. food system include the increasing presence of nontraditional grocery retailers, such as supercenters and drugstores, and competitive responses by traditional grocers, such as supermarket chains. These developments have contributed to sharp increases in concentration in the grocery retail sector, changing conventional relationships among retailers, wholesalers, and manufacturers. In such a competitive domestic food market, food companies are attempting to differentiate themselves from the competition by reporting voluntary activities that demonstrate social responsibility and by more-tailored advertising campaigns and product offerings.
WIC and the Retail Price of Infant FormulaRebates from infant formula manufacturers to State agencies that administer the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) support over one-quarter of all WIC participants. However, concerns have been raised that WIC and its infant formula rebate program may significantly affect the infant formula prices faced by non-WIC consumers. This report presents findings from the most comprehensive national study of infant formula prices at the retail level. For a given set of wholesale prices, WIC and its infant formula rebate program resulted in modest increases in the supermarket price of infant formula, especially in States with a high percentage of WIC formula-fed infants. However, lower priced infant formulas are available to non-WIC consumers in most areas of the country, and the number of these lower priced alternatives is increasing over time. A two-page Research Brief highlights the report's findings.
ERS's
magazine, Amber Waves, has articles
on nutrition, food assistance, and food markets topics, including food
security in the United States, the food
choices of older Americans, how much food
stamps reduce child poverty, some of the determinants
of food prices, and balancing
food costs with nutrition goals in WIC.
Recommended Readings
The Food Assistance Landscape: FY 2008 Annual ReportThis periodical provides a brief overview of USDA's domestic food assistance programs. Each issue contains recent program statistics, such as expenditure, participation, and benefit levels, as well as information on related economic and social indicators, such as unemployment rates, income growth, and food price inflation. It also discusses a recent ERS study that examined patterns of entry into and exit from the Food Stamp Program.
Issues in Food AssistanceThe
Issues in Food Assistance series, part of ERS's Food Assistance and Nutrition
Research Program, addresses a variety of topics related to the USDA food
assistance programs. Issues briefs currently available cover changes in
the Child and Adult Care Food Program, food insecurity, and the standard
deduction in the food stamp benefit formula. Upcoming briefs will cover
such topics as low-income rural Americans, private food aid (food pantries,
food kitchens, etc.), low-income families, unemployment, the U.S. economy,
and self-sufficiency among former food assistance receivers.
America's Eating Habits: Changes and
ConsequencesThis compendium provides different perspectives
on nutrition problems in the United States. Healthier diets might prevent
$71 billion per year in medical costs, lost productivity, and the cost
of premature deaths associated with these conditions.
See all recommended readings...
Recommended Data Products
Food Availability (Per Capita) Data SystemERS
annually calculates the amount of food available for human consumption
in the United States. This series tracks historical national aggregate
consumption of several hundred basic commodities. It is the only continuous
source of data on food and nutrient availability in the United States
and provides data back to 1909 for many commodities. See also the related report, Food Consumption, Prices, and Expenditures, 1970-97.
Current Population Survey (CPS) Food
Security Supplement DataThe CPS-FSS is the source of national
and State-level statistics on food insecurity and hunger used in USDA's annual reports
on household food security.
National data useful
in food and nutrition assistance researchBrief descriptions
of national surveys and data sets with links to the sponsoring organizations.
Recent
Research Developments
FY 2010 Food Assistance and Nutrition Research ConferenceEach year, ERS sponsors a roundtable discussion to identify important and emerging research issues related to domestic food assistance and nutrition programs administered by USDA and to present recently completed research. The FY 2010 conference—Emerging Issues and Recent Findings—will be held December 10, 2009. An agenda is available.
Benefits of Proposed Nutrition
Labeling Rule EstimatedUSDA's Food Safety and Inspection Service
has proposed requiring that nutrition information be provided for fresh
meat and poultry products. This information could be provided by including
a "Nutrition Facts" label like those now placed on processed
food products. According to ERS estimates, changes in consumer behavior
in response to the nutrition information could lead to healthier food
choices, thereby reducing medical costs, productivity losses, and premature
death from diet-related diseases, such as stroke, coronary artery disease,
or cancer. ERS estimates that the benefits associated with these diet-related
health improvements could be as much as $145 million per year.
Related Links
U.S. Department of AgricultureUSDA provides
information on, and access to, agencies that contribute to the health
and nourishment of Americans.
Food and Nutrition ServiceThe
agency responsible for administering the Nation's food and nutrition assistance
programs.
Food and Nutrition Information
Center (FNIC)One of several information centers at USDA's National
Agricultural Library. Access all of FNIC's resource lists and databases,
as well as many other food- and nutrition-related links.
Center for Nutrition Policy and
PromotionThe focal point within USDA where scientific research
is linked with the nutritional needs of the American public.
National
Research Initiative Competitive Grants ProgramThe office in
the Cooperative State Research, Education, and Extension Service (CSREES)
of USDA charged with funding research in biological, environmental, physical,
and social sciences relevant to agriculture, food, and the environment.
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