EPA has the authority to ban pesticides to reduce health risks to consumers from food residues. Such bans influence the price of fruits and vegetables, and the resulting consumption shifts impact consumer health. We develop a framework to compare the direct and indirect health effects of...

"Fat taxes" have been proposed as a way of addressing food-related health concerns. In this paper, we investigate the possible effects of "thin subsidies," consumption subsidies for healthier foods. Empirical simulations, based on data from the Continuing Study of Food Intake by Individuals, are...

Although studies have shown that financial incentives are effective in promoting healthy behaviors, existing interventions have focused on adults in the workforce (e.g. Kullgren et al. 2013). Given that the school environment can be an effective instrument for behavior change, there is a need to...

Obesity is still on the rise, leading to high costs for the obese individual itself but also for society. We analyze the influence of peer effects on food choices in lunchrooms with posted nutrition facts. Data were collected in a lunchroom at a large U.S. university. Groups of four patrons each...

It is a known fact that stress negatively affects food choices. Consequentially, this paper analyzes three different research questions using a sample of 330 international students in Germany. Firstly, it is observed if stress affects students’ motivations to eat, i.e. if it triggers changes...

Using a unique dataset of maize samples and consumer interviews form Eastern Kenya, we find that the presence of the fungal contaminant aflatoxin is negatively associated with the use of maize flour for food. While food remains the most common use of maize regardless of the presence of the...