Price Trends Are Similar for Fruits, Vegetables, and Snack Foods
by
Fred Kuchler and
Hayden Stewart
Economic Research Report No. (ERR-55) 29 pp, March 2008
Cover image for ERS report "Price Trends Are Similar for Fruits, Vegetables, and Snack Foods" (ERR-55)
An increase in the price of fruits and vegetables relative to less healthy foods could reduce consumers' incentives to purchase fruits and vegetables and result in less healthy diets. Whether such a change in relative prices and incentives has occurred in the United States is difficult to prove because of substantial quality improvements in many fresh fruits and vegetables. For commonly consumed fresh fruits and vegetables for which quality has remained fairly constant, analysis of price trends reveals a price decline similar to that of dessert and snack foods. This price trend evidence suggests that the price of a healthy diet has not changed relative to an unhealthy one, although a healthy diet might not include every fresh fruit or vegetable currently available.
Keywords: Fresh fruit and vegetable prices, price trends, quality change, overweight
In this publication...
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Report summary, Pdf file 92 kb
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Abstract, Acknowledgments, and Contents, Pdf file 34 kb
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Summary, Pdf file 24 kb
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Introduction, Pdf file 23 kb
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Why Is It Difficult To Say Whether Relative Prices Have Changed?, Pdf file 30 kb
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Price Indices May Not Adequately Account for Quality Change, Pdf file 50 kb
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Holding Quality Constant: What Can We Learn About How Relative Prices Have Changed?, Pdf file 311 kb
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Conclusions, Pdf file 19 kb
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References, Pdf file 33 kb
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Appendix, Pdf file 20 kb
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Entire report, Pdf file 837 kb
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