Release No. 0363.03

Alisa Harrison (202) 720-4623
Mary Reardon (202) 694-5136

USDA Awards $1.3 Million for Research on Food Assistance and Nutrition Programs

WASHINGTON, October 21, 2003—Agriculture Secretary Ann M. Veneman today announced $1.3 million in grant and cooperative agreement awards in seven states and the District of Columbia for research on food assistance. 

“This research will help ensure that USDA’s programs are responsive in meeting the changing nutritional needs of our nation’s most vulnerable families and individuals,” said Veneman. “A well-nourished individual is healthier, more likely to learn and more productive.”

The goal of the research is to examine, evaluate and enhance USDA’s food and nutrition assistance programs. The grants and cooperative agreements will fund projects in California, the District of Columbia, Indiana, Louisiana, New Jersey, New York, Tennessee and Virginia. The projects will examine a number of program-related issues:

• factors causing variations in WIC infant formula rebates across states, and the effect of the rebate program on the wholesale price of infant formula; 

• food stamp use by legal immigrants before and after the 2002 Farm Bill’s restoration of benefits to noncitizens; 

• impacts of key Food Stamp Program provisions in the 2002 Farm Bill on program costs and participation (e.g., provisions allowing simplified reporting and transitional food stamps for families leaving cash welfare); 

• relationships among Food Stamp Program participation, food insecurity, and expenditures; 

• relationships among employment, at-home meal production, food spending, and food security in food stamp households; 
  sources of variation in State Food Stamp Program participation rates; 

• factors associated with variation in Food Stamp Program participation rates across Virginia; 

• relationship of food security and participation in food assistance programs to obesity, health, and well-being of adults; 

• relationship of food security and participation in food assistance programs to weight status, health, development, and well-being of children; 

• relationship of neighborhood characteristics, including food prices, to obesity, and the association between obesity and children’s academic and developmental outcomes in elementary school; 

• methodology to assess the level of implementation of the Team Nutrition Program; and 

• relationships among Food Stamp Program participation, food sufficiency, and the health of the elderly. 

All of the research projects are competitively awarded by the Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP), administered by USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS). FANRP studies and evaluates the performance of the Food Stamp Program, WIC, Child Nutrition Programs, and related issues. 

The following is a complete list of award recipients. Further information can be accessed on the web at http://www.ers.usda.gov/briefing/FoodNutritionAssistance/fanrp , or from program contact Vic Oliveria (202)694-5434 mailto:victoro@ers.usda.gov  

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Research Funding Opportunities: Fiscal 2003 FANRP Awards

WIC and the Economics of Infant Formula Contracts, Rebates, and Wholesale Prices
David Betson
University of Notre Dame. Notre Dame, IN

Federal law requires that WIC State agencies have competitively-bid infant formula rebate
contracts with formula manufacturers. In 2001, such rebates totaled almost $1.6 billion. The amount of the rebates is not uniform across States—they currently range from 85 percent to 98 percent of the wholesale price of infant formula. This study will examine the factors causing the variations in WIC rebates across States and time, and determine whether the WIC rebate program affects the wholesale price of infant formula. 
Cooperative Research Agreement: $70,000


Food Stamp Use by Legal Immigrants Before and After the 2003 Restorations
Jeffrey Passel
The Urban Institute. Washington, DC

This project will examine the food stamp participation rate of immigrant households following the 2002 Farm Bill’s restoration of benefits to noncitizens; determine how and why immigrant household participation rates vary by State; examine how immigrant household participation rates differ from other eligible populations; and identify vulnerable eligible immigrant subpopulations who may not be participating in the Food Stamp Program.
Grant: $200,000 


Simulating Program Costs and Participation Under the Farm Bill and Alternative Food
Assistance Policies
Thomas MaCurdy
The SPHERE Institute. Burlingame, CA

This study will examine key Food Stamp Program provisions from the 2002 Farm Bill, using a Survey of Income and Program Participation (SIPP)-based microsimulation model. Impacts on participation and benefit levels will be projected for those Farm Bill provisions allowing for simplified reporting, transitional food stamps for families leaving cash welfare, and partial restoration of benefits to legal immigrants. Cost impacts of simplified reporting options will be simulated. Modifications to the model will enhance its reliability and refine its capacity to simulate consequences of alternative reporting policies in the National School Lunch Program.
Cooperative Research agreement: $140,000


Food Stamps, Food Insecurity and Expenditures: A Simultaneous-Equation System
Steven Yen
University of Tennessee. Knoxville, TN

This project will examine the relationships among Food Stamp Program participation, food insecurity, and food expenditures. Using data from the 1996-97 National Food Stamp Program Survey, the project will develop an econometric model to address sample selection bias and interrelated decision making. 
Cooperative Research Agreement $70,000


Employment, Home Meal Production, Food Spending, and Food Security in Food Stamp 
Households
Donald Rose 
Tulane University. New Orleans, LA

To better understand the at-home meal production process in low-income households, this study will examine the time inputs required for home meal production and the trade-offs between time and food costs, particularly for low-income households, using data from the 1996-97 National Food Stamp Program Survey. The labor force participation of the household meal preparer will also be examined as a factor influencing food spending and household food security using data from the Food Security Supplement to the Current Population Survey (CPS). 
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $136,000


Sources of Variation in State Food Stamp Participation Rates
Allen Schirm
Mathematica Policy Research, Inc. Princeton, NJ

This project will identify the factors that lead to variation in State Food Stamp Program participation rates. Some States serve fewer than half of the eligible population, and others serve more than three-quarters. Multivariate techniques will be used to estimate the extent to which State differences in program policies, economic conditions, and characteristics of eligible households affect participation rates.
Assistance Type Cooperative Agreement: $202,000


A Study of Locality, Agency, and Individual Characteristics Affecting Food Stamp Program Participation in Virginia
Carol Baron
Virginia Department of Social Services. Richmond, VA

This project will analyze factors associated with the wide variation of Food Stamp Program participation rates across the Commonwealth of Virginia. The project will create a local area database as well as a linked administrative database to characterize localities, individuals, and/or households. Statistical analysis will quantify the relationship among local, individual, and agency characteristics, and identify facilitators and barriers to Food Stamp Program participation.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $80,000


Modifying Effects of Participation in Food Assistance Programs on the Obesity, Health, and Well-Being of Adults
Sonya J. Jones
University of Tennessee. Knoxville, TN

This project seeks to develop a better understanding of how food security and participation in food assistance programs affect client’s well-being. This study will use longitudinal data from Panel Study of Income Dynamics to examine, in a sample of adult men and women, the causal direction of the relationships among food insecurity, obesity, and other measures of health status and well-being, and test for the modifying effect of household participation in TANF, the Food Stamp Program, and WIC.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $67,431


Modifying Effects of Participation in Food Assistance Programs on the Weight Status, Health, Development, and Well-Being of Children
Edward A. Frongillo, Jr.
Cornell University. Ithaca, NY

This project seeks to develop a better understanding of how food security and participation in food assistance programs affect children's well-being. This study will make use of longitudinal data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998-99, to examine, in a sample of elementary-aged children, the causal direction of the relationships among food insecurity, overweight, and other measures of child development and well-being, and test for the modifying effect of participation in TANF, the Food Stamp Program, the National School Lunch and Breakfast Program, and past participation in WIC and Head Start.
Cooperative Research Agreement: $67,066


Food Prices and Availability and Children's Health and Developmental Outcomes
Roland Sturm 
RAND. Santa Monica, CA

Childhood overweight has been increasing at an alarming rate over the past several decades. This study will examine the association between obesity and children’s academic and developmental outcomes in elementary school; examine the association between neighborhood characteristics, especially the supply of groceries and food price levels, and childhood obesity; and simulate the impact of changes in neighborhood food price and availability on children's outcomes. The study will use data from the Early Childhood Longitudinal Study—Kindergarten Class 1998-1999, a nationally representative data set that follows a cohort of children from kindergarten through fifth grade. 
Grant: $174,897

Methodology to Evaluate Effects of Team Nutrition Program in Schools 
Mary Murimi
Louisiana Tech University. Ruston, LA

USDA created the Team Nutrition Program to improve children’s eating and physical activity habits through nutrition education. This project will develop a methodology to assess level of implementation of the Team Nutrition Program, and examine the feasibility of a web-based survey as a data collection mechanism. 
Cooperative Research Agreement: $25,000


Food Sufficiency, Food Stamp Program Participation, and the Health of the Elderly
Christine Ranney
Cornell University. Ithaca, NY 

This study will examine the relationships among participation in the Food Stamp Program, food sufficiency, and health of the elderly in the United States using panel data from the Health and Retirement Survey. Econometric techniques will be used to develop a better understanding of the simultaneous interactions among these three factors. Findings may aid in planning policy interventions to improve the well-being of this vulnerable age group as they become a larger share of the population. 
Cooperative Research Agreement: $80,000

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