Finding
ERS analyzed cost data from 2005 for nearly 400 schools to better understand the potential effects of 2012-13 nutrition standards on school food costs. Schools serving lunches in 2005 that would have met the new fruit, vegetable, and milk standards had higher food costs than schools whose menus would not have met these standards.
Finding
A recent ERS analysis compares the food security status of current SNAP recipients with that of households that recently left the program. The difference of 8.9 percentage points in prevalence of very low food security between households that continued to receive SNAP benefits (14.2 percent) and households that left the program (23.1 percent) provides an estimate of SNAP’s effectiveness in improving the food security of participating households.
Finding
In 2010, food insecurity was higher for U.S. households with members in nonstandard work arrangements than for those with members in full-time jobs. Findings suggest that employment relates to food insecurity in ways beyond the effects of earned income, such as through instability in income and work schedules.
Feature
Adding SNAP benefits to family income reduces the poverty rate and leads to even greater reductions in depth and severity of poverty, particularly among children. The antipoverty effect of SNAP was especially strong in 2009, when the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act increased SNAP benefits levels.
Finding
USDA has a long history of subsidizing school meals through the National School Lunch Program and the School Breakfast Program. Increasingly, USDA is also involved in feeding children after school, especially low-income children.
Feature
Declining and persistently weak economic conditions have played a major role in the SNAP's growth over the past decade, as have policy changes to SNAP that improved accessibility, expanded eligibility, and raised benefit levels.
Finding
Recent ERS research suggests that low-income Americans can meet the Dietary Guidelines for fruit and vegetable consumption with a wide selection of fresh and processed products and stay within a limited budget.
Statistic
ERS's Food Desert Locator is a mapping tool that presents a spatial overview of where food deserts are located and provides selected characteristics of the populations that live in them.
Statistic
After a sharp increase from 2007 to 2008, the prevalence of food insecurity remained essentially unchanged in 2009 and 2010 at 14.5 percent.
Feature
In exchange for exclusive sales arrangements, manufacturers provide large rebates to States for formula purchased through the program. Winning a WIC contract significantly increases a manufacturer's market share.
Finding
Findings from a 2011 ERS study show that due to geographical food-price variation, the new fruit and vegetable voucher for WIC buys substantially smaller amounts in some U.S. areas than in others.
Finding
The period of transitioning off SNAP can be a financially challenging time for some households despite their improved economic circumstances. Very low food security—characterized by disrupted eating patterns and reduced intake—is more prevalent among households that recently left SNAP than among households still receiving assistance.
Statistic
In 813 counties, average per store SNAP redemptions rose more than 50 percent in 2008-09. Two-thirds of the 813 counties were nonmetro counties.
Finding
An ERS analysis of school meal costs from a large, nationally representative sample reveals that the location of a school can affect its meal costs. Urban locations, for example, had lower per meal costs than rural and suburban locations.
Feature
Food spending by low-income households increased and their food security improved as a result of the increase in SNAP benefit levels authorized by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009.