The Data page of
the ERS website has recently been enhanced to better serve
our users—the intensive users who need large files
of data, as well as the occasional user who needs just a
few numbers. The scope
and breadth of data available from ERS are now in an easy-to-navigate format.
An indicators section gives key facts and figures; a calendar of releases displays
what will become available when. A resource area provides easy access to plug-ins
and readers for working with data, as well as mapping programs, the archive
collection, Information Quality Guidelines, and a sign-up for notifications
of new releases.
Emergency Food
Assistance
Food pantries and emergency kitchens offer community-based
food assistance to needy, low-income households and individuals. The
Emergency Food Assistance System—Findings From the Client Survey: Executive
Summary (FANRR-32) reports
that about 4.3 million different households, including 8.0 million adults and
4.5 million children, received food from pantries during a typical
month in 2001. About 1.1 million people (856,000 adults and 275,000 children)
received meals from emergency kitchens during the same time frame. Almost half
of the households that use food pantries contain children, while about 20 percent
of visitors to emergency kitchens live in households with children. While emergency
food providers serve a diverse clientele, the majority of their clients live
in food-insecure households. Laura Tiehen
Food Stamps
Reduce the Depth and Severity of Child Poverty
Food Stamp Benefits and Childhood Poverty in the 1990s (FANRR-33)
examines the effect on poverty of adding the value of food
stamps to household income and finds that the incidence
of poverty and childhood poverty are not reduced much by
food stamps. However, the depth and severity of child poverty
and poverty overall are significantly reduced by food stamps.
These results demonstrate that examining only the incidence
of child poverty leads to the incorrect conclusion that
food stamps do not mitigate child poverty. Dean
Jolliffe
Policy Change Affects
Cranberry Plantings
Favorable weather played a role in the 2003 expansion in cranberry plantings,
but the absence of a restrictive marketing order is the main force driving
growth. Under the marketing order—a government-sanctioned mechanism designed
to mitigate the oversupplies existing since 1998—cranberry growers were
allowed to sell only 65 percent of their historic average sales to processors.
Although still large relative to levels prior to 1998, cranberry inventories
have declined significantly and grower prices have been improving since 2001.
More on changes in this commodity market are outlined in the September 2003 Fruit
and Tree Nuts Outlook (FTS-306). Agnes Perez
China’s
Trade as a First-Year WTO Member
China is a key player in agricultural commodity markets, and its trade with the
world is an ongoing source of uncertainty. China’s
Exports Outpaced Imports During WTO Year One (FAU-79-02) discusses how policy measures
and world market conditions boosted China’s exports (particularly of
vegetables, fruit, and corn) and dampened imports during 2002, its first year
as a World Trade Organization member, and also addresses the emergence of China
as an importer of consumer-oriented agricultural commodities. Fred
Gale
2003 Rural-Urban
Continuum Codes Released
In August 2003, ERS released the 2003 Rural-Urban Continuum
Codes based on the Office of Management and Budget’s
new definitions of metro and nonmetro areas (see the ERS
briefing room on measuring rurality).
The codes are used by Federal agencies, policy analysts,
and
researchers to capture diversity in rural areas in ways that
are meaningful for developing public policies and programs.
The classification distinguishes metro counties by size and
nonmetro counties by degree of urbanization and proximity
to metro areas, resulting in a 9-part county codification.
Tim Parker
U.S.
Farmers’ Adoption of Genetically Engineered Crops
U.S. farmers have adopted genetically engineered (GE)
crops widely since their introduction in 1996, notwithstanding
uncertainty about consumer acceptance and
economic and environmental impacts. Soybeans and cotton genetically engineered
with herbicide-tolerant traits have been the most widely and rapidly adopted
GE crops in the U.S., followed by insect-resistant cotton and corn. This
online
database summarizes the extent of adoption of GE corn, cotton, and soybean
varieties since 1996. Jorge Fernandez-Cornejo
Benchmark
Data on Plant Breeding
This online
database provides information on the level of
plant breeding effort (in terms of staff years and estimated
expenditures) in the U.S. by the public and private sectors. The database is
a comprehensive accounting of national plant breeding efforts based on a 1994
national plant breeding study conducted by Iowa State University with support
from USDA. It provides the only national benchmark to which current efforts
and future developments in this critically important area of research can be
compared. Paul Heisey
