Each year, the United States Department of Agriculture estimates the number of people eligible to participate in the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), the number who will likely participate, and the expected cost of food. These estimates are used in...

A comprehensive model is developed to measure the extent that nutrition knowledge and diet-health awareness, among other factors, influence an individual's Healthy Eating Index (HEI), USDA's measure of overall diet quality. This is the first study that rigorously attempts to examine variation in...

Higher income households likely spend less per person on whole and canned milk than do lower income households, but more on most other dairy products, according to this technical analysis of the effect of household socioeconomic features on dairy purchases. For example, a 10-percent increase in...

Higher income households spend more per person on most food groups, especially beef, fish, cheese, vegetables, butter, and alcoholic beverages, than do lower income households. Elderly Americans spend less than younger people on food away from home and alcoholic beverages. Households in the...

Statistical relationships called expenditure elasticities are detailed for 24 major food groups and 77 subgroups. They allow researchers and policymakers to anticipate what can happen to family expenditures for these foods when income and household size change. The elasticities generally confirm...