A Consumer Food Data System for 2030 and Beyond (2020) / Chapter Skim
Currently Skimming:
3 Data and Knowledge Gaps
3 Data and Knowledge Gaps
Pages 85-104
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From page 85... ...
Of particular value is the way the CFDS can strengthen researchers' ability to conduct evaluations of both current food assistance programs and potential future interventions. In this chapter, each of these three functional areas is described.
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From page 86... ...
Food Security The first subject area for which the CFDS provides crucial data related to monitoring population outcomes, particularly through the December Current Population Survey (DCPS) , is the measurement of food security.
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From page 87... ...
also monitors food security. The only nationally representative longitudinal dataset that uses the full 18-question food security instrument, it includes detailed measures of individuals' income, employment, health, wealth, consumption, food expenditures, and family structure in a panel fashion.
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From page 88... ...
In addition, some of these food assistance programs affect a set of nonprofit organizations that administer the programs, such as schools (school meals programs) , CACFP facilities, and WIC clinics.
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From page 89... ...
This could fill gaps in our knowledge of what food assistance programs facilitate. Program Participation and Eligibility, and Locations Where Eligibility Is Determined To understand program use, it is important to have geographic and time measures with fine detail on program participation and eligibility.
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From page 90... ...
It is also important to know where the agents who assess eligibility for food assistance programs are located. In the case of schools, this is included in one of the above lists.
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From page 91... ...
The Food Environment Another valuable innovation from USDA is the Food Access Research Atlas, one of the agency's most widely used collections of data provided to the public.3 This atlas reports at two points in time where the prevalence of retail food outlets is available at the census tract level. Having repeated cross-sectional measures of the types of food available by store is important, as it allows researchers to study access.
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From page 92... ...
It would also let researchers study how the food environment is affected when stores are temporarily or permanently kicked off WIC or SNAP. Similarly, data such as which schools are participating in universal meals or school breakfasts also should be available and could conceivably be added to such data dissemination vehicles as the National Center for Education Statistics Common Core database or the Food Security Supplement of the Current Population Survey.
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From page 93... ...
So, while these scanner data are far more disaggregated than most of the data obtainable from existing government sources, and while they represent the average shopping experience, they do not necessarily contain individual variation in prices paid. Data on individual prices paid at specific stores, net of taxes and other features like coupons, would let researchers know where food prices are high, allow them to measure the pass-through of factors affecting prices to consumers, and let them measure the incidence of the food assistance programs.
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From page 94... ...
is the potential to improve measurements of the Thrifty Food Plan. Time Costs Food choices are also affected by time costs (both distance and travel time to food acquisition venues)
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From page 95... ...
This shortcoming stems from the fact that, in most datasets about program participation, all of the characteristics of the respondents are self-reported, so that data on program participation are not accurate. It would be extremely helpful if these health data were linked to administrative program data, as is done in the Census Bureau's Next Generation Data Program and by NCHS, for which Medicaid, Medicare, and Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD)
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3.3. A DATA INFRASTRUCTURE FOR ADDRESSING DESCRIPTIVE AND CAUSAL QUESTIONS To fulfill its mission, ERS's CFDS must make it possible to answer both descriptive and causal questions.
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From page 97... ...
Some argue that causal inferences are best supported through the use of randomized controlled trials and that observational studies can be misleading and are generally not reliable for this purpose. There is no question that the use of randomized controlled trials has greatly improved our understanding of the efficacy of ‘treatments' versus ‘controls' in many areas of science and that the causal inferences produced through use of randomized controlled trials are often well-supported.
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From page 98... ...
Constructing these databases would enable the study of program use and eligibility by persons, of program participation by firms, and the extent to which the locations of government entities determining eligibility affect take-up by individuals. Tracking the rules described in the previous section is the first step in calculating whether individuals are potentially eligible to participate in the food assistance programs.
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From page 99... ...
, the benefits they receive from food assistance may not exceed the total costs when one considers stigma and transaction costs. A concern emerges, though, when households with higher levels of need do not enter a program.
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From page 100... ...
Further, simply tracking the location of WIC clinics, schools participating in school meals, SNAP offices, and other program delivery and eligibility determination sites would facilitate important research on program takeup, especially for the smaller programs that are not well studied, such as CACFP. Knowing where potentially eligible stores are located and which stores participate would allow researchers to model store choices regarding program participation and track where programs are hard to access.
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From page 101... ...
Repeated crosssections of food environment data are needed to evaluate geographically targeted policies, such as those addressing poor food environments by proposing taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages, or the Healthy Food Financing Initiative, which sought to improve access to healthy foods by helping to cover some of the costs of setting up grocery stores. It is not easy for many researchers to access to data with detailed geography on food intake or food acquisition in order to study how such local policies might affect outcomes.
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From page 102... ...
Detailed price data would also allow researchers to study causal questions, such as how differences in the real value of SNAP and WIC benefits affect food acquisition and consumption and subsequent health and other outcomes. While there has been some research on this topic (e.g., Gregory and Coleman-Jensen, 2013; Courtemanche, Denteh, and Tchernis, 2019; Bronchetti, Christensen, and Hoynes, 2019)
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From page 103... ...
It would be useful to consider time concerns when creating the food plans. Food-Related Health Measurement Larger samples of these health outcomes that span more detailed geographic areas would permit researchers to better study the effects of policy and other determinants of food choice on health and nutrition outcomes, beyond the most basic outcome of food security.
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From page 104... ...
We urge the Food Economics Division to keep the following issues in mind going forward, toward a time when, should current demographic trends continue, the country is sure to be more racially and ethnically diverse. The country is also likely to have more mixed family structures, including more cohabitation, single-parent households, and multi-generational households, varying concentrations of poverty, and mixed immigration status.
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