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This page provides the following information:
Overview
The Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics
(RIDGE) Program seeks to stimulate new and innovative
research on food assistance and nutrition issues and to
broaden the participation of social science scholars in
these issues. RIDGE, which transformed the previous Small
Grants Program in 2006, is funded by ERS and administered
in partnership with five academic/research institutions.
The five institutions oversee the application, peer review,
and grant award processes. Each institution covers a different
aspect of food assistance, nutrition, or subgroup of recipients
as its primary focus.
Partnership Institutions
For details about the individual programs, visit the institutions
listed below:
- Southern
Rural Development Center, Mississippi State University
focuses on food assistance effects on rural people,
families, and communities in the South. The Center has
also initiated a dialogue among scholars by establishing
a Rural South Food Assistance Research Task Force.
- The
American Indian Studies Program, University of Arizona is working with scholars at tribal colleges and other
institutions to support research on the unique issues
and problems of Native Americans with respect to food
assistance. Their program focuses on food assistance
programs and Native Americans, primarily those living
on reservations.
- Institute
for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin focuses its research on the effects of food assistance
on individual and family well-being and food security.
- The
Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago
focuses on interactions between food assistance and
other welfare programs and linkages between the macroeconomy
and food assistance.
- Department
of Nutrition, University of California, Davis conducts
research on the impact of food assistance programs on
nutritional risk indicators (anthropometric, biochemical,
clinical, and dietary), food purchasing practices, and
food insecurity. This program encourages examinations
of multiple indicators of nutrition impact and interdisciplinary
approaches that integrate epidemiology, economics, or
anthropology with nutrition.
Annual Conference
ERS hosts the Food Assistance and Nutrition RIDGE Program
Conference in the fall of each year. The
2009 conference
will be held on October 15 and 16, 2009, at ERS headquarters
in Washington, D.C. An agenda and registration form are available.
 An award ceremony was part of the 2007 conference. The
RIDGE Summit Award for “Outstanding Leadership and
Contribution” was presented to Lionel “Bo”
Beaulieu, Director of the Southern Rural Development Center
at Mississippi State University. This recognition was
given for the first time in the program’s history.
Dr. Beaulieu was recognized for his extraordinary accomplishments
during the past 10 years in the RIDGE Program to stimulate
new and innovative research on food assistance issues;
to broaden the network of researchers, including collaboration
with researchers at historically Black land-grant universities
and colleges; and to provide economic-based studies that
help inform food assistance and nutrition program administrators,
policymakers, and analysts. Particularly noteworthy in
2007 was Beaulieu’s report, “Strengthening
Our Nation’s Food Assistance Programs,” which
highlights the RIDGE Program and its record of achievements.
Research Project Summaries
The RIDGE Program summarizes research findings of projects
that were awarded grants through its partner institutions
in a given year. For example, results for projects granted
awards in 2007 were presented at the 2008 RIDGE Conference.
Findings from these studies are published in the RIDGE
Project Summaries, 2008 report. The exception is the
publication containing summaries of projects completed
in 1999, which carries a 1998 date, the year the grant
was awarded.
To perform a customized search of all RIDGE projects and summaries by keyword(s), project, research center, investigator,
or year, see:
To view the published RIDGE project summaries
from previous years, see:
Visit grants.gov to apply for grants across the Federal government.
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