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Fruit and Vegetable Consumption by Low-Income Americans: Would a Price Reduction Make a Difference?

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  • Dong, Diansheng
  • Lin, Biing-Hwan

Abstract

Americans’ diets, particularly those of low-income households, fall short of Government recommendations in the quantity of fruits and vegetables consumed. Some proposals suggest that a price subsidy for those products would encourage low-income Americans to consume more of them. This study estimated that a 10-percent subsidy would encourage low-income Americans to increase their consumption of fruits by 2.1-5.2 percent and vegetables by 2.1-4.9 percent. The annual cost of such a subsidy for low-income Americans would be about $310 million for fruits and $270 million for vegetables. And most would still not meet Federal dietary recommendations.

Suggested Citation

  • Dong, Diansheng & Lin, Biing-Hwan, 2009. "Fruit and Vegetable Consumption by Low-Income Americans: Would a Price Reduction Make a Difference?," Economic Research Report 55835, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    • Handle: RePEc:ags:uersrr:55835
    DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.55835
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    Cited by:

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    2. Papoutsi, Georgia & Nayga, Rodolfo & Lazaridis, Panagiotis & Drichoutis, Andreas, 2013. "Nudging parental health behavior with and without children's pestering power: Fat tax, subsidy or both?," MPRA Paper 52324, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Ferrier, Peyton M & Rucker, Randal R. & Thurman, Walter N. & Burgett, Michael, 2018. "Economic Effects and Responses to Changes in Honey Bee Health," Economic Research Report 276245, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    4. Volpe, Richard & Okrent, Abigail, 2012. "Assessing the Healthfulness of Consumers' Grocery Purchases," Economic Information Bulletin 262129, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    5. Khanal, Binod, 2020. "Cash transfers and consumption of healthy and unhealthy food: evidence from tax refunds," 2020 Annual Meeting, July 26-28, Kansas City, Missouri 304346, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    6. Natalie H. Valpiani & Parke E. Wilde & Beatrice L. Rogers & Hayden G. Stewart, 2016. "Price Differences across Farmers’ Markets, Roadside Stands, and Supermarkets in North Carolina," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association, vol. 38(2), pages 276-291.
    7. Ferrier, Peyton M. & Zhen, Chen, 2017. "The Role of Income in Explaining the Shift from Preserved to Fresh Vegetable Purchases," Journal of Agricultural and Resource Economics, Western Agricultural Economics Association, vol. 42(3), September.
    8. Klerman, Jacob Alex & Bartlett, Susan & Wilde, Parke & Olsho, Lauren, 2013. "The Healthy Incentives Pilot and Fruit and Vegetable Intake: Interim Results," 2014 Allied Social Sciences Association (ASSA) Annual Meeting, January 3-5, 2014, Philadelphia, PA 161655, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    9. Senia, Mark & Dharmasena, Senarath, 2017. "Pre-Determined Demand and Theoretical Regularity Conditions: Their Importance for Consumer Food Demand Using AIDS and Policy Analysis Implications," 2017 Annual Meeting, February 4-7, 2017, Mobile, Alabama 252740, Southern Agricultural Economics Association.
    10. Xu, Lei, 2024. "Household Food Waste Patterns: Exploring Categorical Price and Expenditure Elasticities Using a Demand System Approach," 2024 Annual Meeting, July 28-30, New Orleans, LA 343717, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    11. Rickertsen, K. & Gustavsen, G.W. & Nayga, R.M. & Dong, D., 2018. "Acculturation in Food Choices among U.S. Immigrants," 2018 Conference, July 28-August 2, 2018, Vancouver, British Columbia 277041, International Association of Agricultural Economists.
    12. Wisdom Dogbe & Cesar Revoredo-Giha, 2021. "Nutritional and Environmental Assessment of Increasing the Content of Fruit and Vegetables in the UK Diet," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(3), pages 1-23, January.
    13. Grindal, Todd & Wilde, Parke & Schwartz, Gabe & Klerman, Jacob & Bartlett, Susan & Berman, Danielle, 2016. "Does food retail access moderate the impact of fruit and vegetable incentives for SNAP participants? Evidence from western Massachusetts," Food Policy, Elsevier, vol. 61(C), pages 59-69.
    14. Palma, Marco A. & Ribera, Luis A. & Bessler, David, 2013. "Implications of U.S. Trade Agreements and U.S. Nutrition Policies for Produce Production, Demand, and Trade," Journal of Agricultural and Applied Economics, Cambridge University Press, vol. 45(3), pages 465-480, August.
    15. Stewart, Hayden & Dong, Diansheng, 2018. "The Relationship Between Patronizing Direct-to-Consumer Outlets and a Household’s Demand for Fruits and Vegetables," Economic Research Report 276254, United States Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.
    16. Kuo-Liang Chang & Marjorie Zastrow & Christina Zdorovtsov & Ryan Quast & Larissa Skjonsberg & Suzanne Stluka, 2015. "Do SNAP and WIC Programs Encourage More Fruit and Vegetable Intake? A Household Survey in the Northern Great Plains," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 36(4), pages 477-490, December.
    17. Richard Volpe & Edward C Jaenicke & Lauren Chenarides, 2018. "Store Formats, Market Structure, and Consumers’ Food Shopping Decisions," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 40(4), pages 672-694, December.
    18. Mark, Senia & Senarath, Dharmasena, 2016. "Ascertaining the Role of Socio-Economic-Demographic and Government Food Policy Related Factors on the Per Capita Intake of Dietary Fiber Derived from Consumption of Various Foods in the United States," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235757, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Usama Haroon & Muhammad Hassan Chaudhary & Muhammad Aamir Shahzad & Muhammad Adnan Khan & Nimra Nisar, 2020. "Vegetable Prices Possess Seasonal Volatility: A Case Study of Lahore, Punjab, Pakistan," Journal of Economic Impact, Science Impact Publishers, vol. 2(2), pages 62-71.

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    Keywords

    Agricultural and Food Policy; Consumer/Household Economics; Demand and Price Analysis;
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