IRP-USDA Research, Innovation, and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Program (formerly Small Grants)

Application Guidelines
Program Description
Currently Funded Proposals at IRP
Previously Funded IRP Proposals
National Database of RIDGE Project Summaries

Program Description

The intent of the IRP-USDA Research, Innovation, and Development Grants in Economics Program competition is to stimulate new areas of interest in research on food insecurity and food assistance programs, such as Food Stamps, school lunch and breakfast programs, summer food programs, the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

The grants program is cosponsored by the Economic Research Service of the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The program supports small grants for studies focusing on topics such as food security and the effects of food assistance programs on income security and other indicators of well-being among low-income individuals and families.

Currently Funded Proposals at IRP

Four proposals have been funded for the period July 1, 2008 - December 31, 2009:

• David E. Frisvold, Emory University
  Nutrition and Cognitive Achievement: An Evaluation of the School Breakfast Program

• Oscar A. Mitnik, University of Miami
  The Effects of Female Labor Force Participation on Adult and Childhood Obesity

• Kevin Mumford, Purdue University, and Colleen Flaherty Manchester, University of Minnesota
  What Will the Neighbors Think? Welfare Stigma Due to Public Disapproval

• P. Johnelle Sparks, University of Texas at San Antonio
  The Impact of WIC Participation on Food Insecurity and Early Childhood Health Outcomes for a Nationally Representative Sample of Children

Principal Investigators for the projects will present their preliminary results and receive feedback at IRP in the spring of 2009, and their final results at a two-day conference in Washington, DC, in October 2009.

Previously Funded IRP Proposals

2007-2008  |  2006-2007  |  2005-2006  |  2004-2005  |  2003-2004  |  2002-2003  |  2001-2002  |  2000-2001

National Database of RIDGE Project Summaries

A searchable database of RIDGE project summaries dating back to the program’s inception in 1999 is available on the ERS Web site at http://www.ers.usda.gov/Briefing/FoodNutritionAssistance/Funding/RIDGEprojects.asp.