Date of Completion

12-8-2014

Embargo Period

12-5-2014

Keywords

SNAP Benefits, Food Stamps, School Nutrition Program, Price index, Retailers' Strategies

Major Advisor

Chad Cotti

Associate Advisor

Joshua Berning

Associate Advisor

Farhed Shah

Associate Advisor

Rigoberto Lopez

Field of Study

Agricultural and Resource Economics

Open Access

Campus Access

Abstract

In recent years, food consumption and health habits have been increasingly attract the attention of policy makers and researchers aiming to establish healthy and sustainable living communities. This work wants to contribute to a well establish literature on food policy and health consumption with the final goal of building healthier societies. In the first essay I examine the relationship between the timing of food stamp receipt and consumption patterns. Consistent with previous work I find that purchases of a variety of goods are higher on receipt days. Additionally, I find that when receipt days are more likely to be on weekends, total monthly consumption within the same households is affected. In the second chapter I investigate if providing a healthy snack in the middle of the morning can alleviate the hunger level of fourth grade elementary students. Results highlight the importance in considering the timing and quality of meals provided during school time. We found students appear to anticipate their caloric and nutrient intake from lunch to snack time with a significant reduction of their hunger level. The third chapter investigates the effect of retailer marketing mix on food price inflation, with particular focus given to pricing and Private Labels (PL) strategies. Results show the presence of PL helps to calm upward price trends, however PL expansion on multiple market segments can lead to opposite effects. Results from this last essay can be of particular interest when considering the purchasing power of consumers, especially of low income households.

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