The debate around the healthfulness of food choices for low-income households is still a relevant point of contention for policymakers as they aim to provide tools to incentivize consumption of healthier foods in different ways. Using fluid milk as a case study, and one year of household- level...

The continued growth and success of farmers markets (FMs) across the US leads one to question whether this outlet can help reduce limited food access via farmers directly meeting consumer needs. To date, however, few analyses have assessed the economic forces determining their existence....

As the public expenditure for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) - formerly the Food Stamp Program (FSP) - increases, improving the effectiveness of the policy becomes pivotal to limit further surges in public spending. Along with social stigma, transaction costs, associated in...

Food products providing health benefits beyond nutrition, or functional foods, draw consumers’ attention and promise growth opportunities for innovator food manufacturers. European functional food manufacturers may be facing future challenges, mainly due to the European Union Regulation (EC)...

This paper measures the degree of monopsony power exerted by Wal-Mart over retail workers using a dominant-firm model and data on contiguous U.S. counties where the company operates, presenting for the first time a measure of the anti-competitive behavior of the company. Empirical results show...

This paper analyzes the effect of access to different types of food outlets on households’ food insecurity levels. Two years (2004 and 2005) of Current Population Survey – Food Security Supplement data are matched with MSA-level data on store counts of Wal-Mart Supercenters, small food...

The association between types of food access and rising adult obesity rates is increasingly recognized, as a complement to the effects of declining physical activity. Previous studies have examined the effects on obesity of only a limited set of store types, such as grocery stores, fast food...

Regulation (EC) No 1924/2006, 20 December 2006, requires functional foods manufacturers operating in Europe to provide evidence that the health claims reported on the packaging are truthful. However, most applications reviewed by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) have been rejected,...

In spite of Italy presenting one of the largest consumption of fruits and vegetables (FV) among EU Countries, the number of adult Italians consuming the recommended daily amounts of FV is declining, especially in the South of the country, were the expansion of the food retail industry has been...