Parke Wilde's Blog

 USDA yesterday released its annual food security report, showing that 10.5% of U.S. households were food insecure in 2020. Surprisingly, the 2020 estimate was unchanged from 2019 despite the COVID-19 pandemic. Observers expected the 2020 statistics to show a jump in household food insecurity.

The annual food security report uses data from a December food security supplement to the monthly Current Population Survey (CPS), the same data source used for federal statistics on unemployment and povert...

To mark the 25th anniversary of U.S. household food security measurement, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service (USDA ERS) will fund a suite of competitive grants on food security measurement methods, data, and future research needs. 

The selection and coordination of the projects will be managed by an external cooperator, a collaboration between Tufts University (Dr. Parke Wilde) and the University of Missouri (Dr. Irma Arteaga). This Request for Proposals (RFP) invites ...

The 2020 Tufts/UConn Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Conference, held virtually on October 14, will feature new economic research aimed at enhancing food security and dietary quality for low-income Americans.

New and established investigators who were 2019 RIDGE grantees will present on topics ranging from evaluating the impact of nutrition-driven changes in school meals to influences of labor policy on SNAP to nutrition assistance participation amongst population...

Government policy influences all parts of the food marketing chain, including farms, food manufacturers, retailers, restaurants, and diverse nutrition assistance programs. At every stage, sound policy-making depends on high-quality data.

The National Academies Press this month published a new consensus report from the Center for National Statistics (CNSTAT), entitled A Consumer Food Data System for 2030 and Beyond, with recommendations to help guide the federal government in consumer food data...

For the food industry -- and also for meeting important public interest goals -- it would be beneficial for the U.S. federal government to consider environmental sustainability along with nutrition science in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans (DGA).

In 2013, the Food Forum of the National Academies organized a workshop on sustainable dietary guidelines (covered previously). At the time, we had little hope the topic would be included in the actual guidelines. Then, in 2015, hopes were raised...

In her new book, "The Labor of Lunch" (University of California Press, 2019), Jennifer Gaddis of University of Wisconsin-Madison covers the history and politics of federal school meals programs from every angle.

The book contrasts with contemporary behavioral economics research, which treats lunchrooms as a "laboratory" for small random-assignment trials of minor changes in product presentation. Gaddis instead pays attention to the big social issues that always have complicated school meals...

My colleagues at Tufts University and I are happy to announce that we are now requesting proposals from WIC State Agencies or a consortium of WIC State Agencies (SAs), through April 10th for the USDA/Tufts Telehealth Intervention Strategies for WIC (THIS-WIC) grant opportunity.

The opportunity is made possible through funding from the USDA, Food and Nutrition Service and will help WIC State Agencies (SAs) develop and implement telehealth innovations to enhance nutrition education and...

Suppose the government wanted to require front-of-pack nutrition labels for packaged food and beverages, making it easier for consumers to see at a glance some key nutritional qualities. 
In the United States, could the manufacturers claim that such a rule violates their First Amendment rights?
In the journal Food Policy  this past summer, Jennifer Pomeranz, Dariush Mozaffarian, Renata Micha, and I study the precedents. Much depends on whether a particular labeling policy could satisfy...

New studies this week in the Annals of Internal Medicine have generated much fiery news coverage.

For example, Time's headline says: "Should You Stop Eating Red Meat? A New Paper Has a Controversial Answer." As always, the nutrition reporter portrays nutrition science as fickle, endlessly reversing itself.
It's not true. The actual scientific content in the new studies confirms what we already knew.
The best available evidence suggests that reducing red and processed meat consumption will reduce...

A large body of evidence reviewed by the World Health Organization found that processed meat consumption increases the risk of cancer. Seeking to alleviate consumer concern, food companies label some of their products as "uncured" or "no nitrites added." However, these products may have essentially as much nitrites or nitrates as regular products.

In an August 29 report from Consumer Reports (CR), policy analyst (and Friedman School Ph.D. student) Charlotte Vallaeys explained the issue.

“Thanks...