Extramural Research
Related Reports
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How Much Time Do Americans Spend on Food?
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Statistical Supplement to Household Food Security in the United States in 2010
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Household Food Security in the United States in 2010
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program Final Report: Fiscal 2010 Activities
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WIC Participation Patterns: An Investigation of Delayed Entry & Early Exit
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RIDGE Project Summaries, 2009: Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics Program
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Household Food Security in the United States, 2009
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Eating and Health Module User's Guide
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Household Food Security in the United States, 2008
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RIDGE Project Summaries, 2008: Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics Program
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RIDGE Project Summaries, 2007: Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics Program
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The National School Lunch Program Background, Trends, and Issues
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Food Stamps and Obesity: What Do We Know?
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Informing Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy: 10 Years of Research at ERS
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Household Food Security in the United States, 2007
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Household Food Security in the United States, 2006
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Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective—Food Spending Patterns of Low-Income Households: Will Increasing Purchasing Power Result in Healthier Food Choices?
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Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective—Overview: Can Food Stamps Do More To Improve Food Choices?
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Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective—Higher Cost of Food in Some Areas May Affect Food Stamp Households’ Ability To Make Healthy Food Choices
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Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective—How Do Low-Income Households Respond to Food Prices?
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Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective—Nutrition Information: Can It Improve the Diets of Low-Income Households?
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Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective—Making Healthy Food Choices Easier: Ideas From Behavioral Economics
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Can Food Stamps Do More to Improve Food Choices? An Economic Perspective—How Can We Tell If We Are Making a Difference? ERS Efforts To Improve Evaluation of Nutrition Outcomes
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Could Behavioral Economics Help Improve Diet Quality for Nutrition Assistance Program Participants?
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Characteristics of Low-Income Households With Very Low Food Security: An Analysis of the USDA GPRA Food Security Indicator
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The 2005 Gulf Coast Hurricanes' Effect on Food Stamp Program Caseloads and Benefits Issued
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The Food Assistance Landscape: FY 2006 Midyear Report
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 2006, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process
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Food Assistance Landscape, March 2006
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Food Assistance Landscape, September 2005
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 2005, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process
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Interstate Variation in WIC Food Package Costs: The Role of Food Prices, Caseload Composition, and Cost-Containment Practices
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Estimating Longrun Food Stamp Program Caseloads
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Nutrition and Health Characteristics of Low-Income Populations: Volume I, Food Stamp Program Participants and Nonparticipants
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Food Stamp Certification Periods and Payment Accuracy: State Experience During 1997-2001
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The Role of Economics in Eating Choices and Weight Outcomes
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WIC and the Retail Price of Infant Formula
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 2004, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process
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Direct Certification in the National School Lunch Program—Impacts on Program Access and Integrity
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Dynamics of Poverty and Food Sufficiency
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 2003, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Final Report: Fiscal 2002 Activities
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 2002, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Final Report: Fiscal 2001 Activities
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 2001, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Final Report: Fiscal 2000 Activities
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 2000, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Final Report: Fiscal 1999 Activities
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 1999, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Final Report: Fiscal 1998 Activities
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Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Fiscal 1998, Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program: Description and Application Process
Related Amber Waves Articles
ERS encourages new and innovative research through joint projects between ERS staff and outside researchers. The ERS extramural research program component uses two main mechanisms to promote food and nutrition assistance research from a broad arena:
Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program
ERS awards grants and cooperative agreements to support extramural research that focuses on USDA's domestic food and nutrition assistance programs. Research is targeted to meet critical information needs of the Administration, Congress, program managers, policy officials, clients, the research community, and the general public. This program allows ERS to partner with innovative, creative, and forward-looking researchers.
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Grants are awarded when the research project supports the research mission and does not require substantial involvement between ERS staff and the extramural researchers during the research period.
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Cooperative agreements, awarded when the research project requires more substantial involvement between ERS and the extramural researchers, allow ERS staff to supplement their own expertise with the knowledge and resources of academic and private institutions.
ERS does not anticipate having funds available in fiscal 2012 for competitive grants and cooperative agreements that were previously funded through the Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP).
Recent Awards and Previous Years' Awards
Fiscal 2011 Awards
ERS's Food Assistance and Nutrition Reseatch Program (FANRP)'s Competitive Grants and Cooperative Agreements Program made 10 awards in fiscal 2011 to fund research on relationships between food assistance programs, food choices, and the economy; and using behavioral economics and incentives to promote child nutrition. Behavioral economics research is part of an ongoing collaboration with USDA's Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) since fiscal 2010 to develop a research program in behavioral economics to study USDA's child nutrition programs.
Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics Program (RIDGE)
The Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Program encourages new and innovative research on food and nutrition assistance issues and broadens the participation of social science scholars in such research. RIDGE is funded by ERS and administered in partnership with:
The RIDGE Centers oversee the application, peer review, award, and performance processes of the research grants provided through the RIDGE Program. Each center serves as a hub for mentoring and training researchers interested in food and nutrition assistance issues and provides a source of timely and accessible information on new research findings. For more information, see RIDGE at ERS 16x16 - PDF .
Partnership Institutions
For details about the RIDGE Centers and their annual research competitions, visit the institutions listed below:
- The RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research at the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP), University of Wisconsin-Madison, focuses on research related to food and nutrition assistance issues that affect the entire Nation. The IRP--one of three Area Poverty Research Centers--is a leader in poverty and policy research, with an extensive network of research and policy colleagues. An important component of IRP's work relates to determinants of food assistance program participation and the effects of participation on food security, obesity, and other outcomes.
- The RIDGE Center for Targeted Food and Nutrition Assistance Research at the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC), Mississippi State University, supports food and nutrition assistance research directed at specific populations such as residents of rural areas, Native Americans, and immigrants. The RIDGE Center at SRDC, with an important regional focus in the South, has strong working relationships with other Regional Rural Development Centers. These strong relationships provide a platform for targeted studies in areas across the country that experience significant economic, social, and demographic challenges that may impact the nutritional health of their residents.
Annual Conference
ERS and the RIDGE Centers host the Food and Nutrition Assistance RIDGE Program Conference in the Fall of each year at which RIDGE researchers present findings of completed projects. The most recent conference was held on October 4, 2012. See the RIDGE Centers at IRP and SRDC for abstracts of research projects delivered at the 2012 conference and new studies slated for presentation in the Fall of 2013 (conference date to be determined).
Research Project Summaries
RIDGE, known as the Small Grants Program through 2006, has funded more than 240 projects at over 100 educational and research institutions during 1998-2011. In addition to projects funded by the current RIDGE Centers, many research projects were conducted through previous RIDGE partners at the American Indian Studies Program, University of Arizona; the Harris School of Public Policy, University of Chicago; the Joint Center for Poverty Research, the University of Chicago and Northwestern University; and the Department of Nutrition, University of California, Davis.
The RIDGE Program annually summarizes research findings of projects that were awarded grants through its partner institutions in a given year. The summaries are available in a searchable electronic database. To perform a customized search of all RIDGE project summaries by keyword(s), project, research center, investigator, or year, see:
RIDGE Projects and Summaries
Visit Grants.gov to find and apply for grants available across the Federal Government.
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