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The Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP)
at ERS addresses research issues associated with the Nation’s
food assistance and nutrition programs, including the
Food Stamp Program; the Special Supplemental Nutrition
Program for Woman, Infants, and Children (WIC); and the
Child Nutrition Programs. FANRP’s research is designed
to meet critical needs of USDA, Congress, program managers
and participants, the research community, and the public
at large. Our goal is a high-quality, multidisciplinary
program that supports "Economic Research for a Healthy,
Well-Nourished America."
FANRP research is conducted both within ERS and outside
of ERS. Internal research uses ERS’s research capital
and specialized knowledge base. Extramural research, often
conducted jointly with ERS staff, draws upon the multidisciplinary
expertise of outside researchers and the resources of
numerous institutions and universities across the country.
See the ERS electronic database of peer-reviewed reports
and articles based on FANRP-supported research published
at ERS and elsewhere.
FANRP uses a variety of funding mechanisms in its extramural
programs. Contracts are used when a very specific product
is required, such as collection of data. Competitive
grants and cooperative agreements are used when the
intent is to stimulate new and innovative research or
to undertake projects conducted jointly with ERS researchers.
The RIDGE
Program seeks to stimulate new and innovative research
on food assistance and nutrition issues and to broaden
the participation of social science scholars in these
issues. Interagency agreements are used to enhance food
assistance data development through cost-sharing partnerships
and to fund cooperative interagency research on program
interactions and policy issues.
Research Themes
FANRP recognizes the importance of adopting a multi-program
view rather than restricting research to an individual
program-by-program approach; for example, cross-program
interactions between food stamps, Temporary Assistance
for Needy Families (TANF), and Medicaid are important.
FANRP’s research is less targeted to specific operational
details of programs. Instead, research is oriented more
toward core policy issues, such as the overall success
of the package of food assistance and nutrition programs
in terms of diet and health outcomes, program coverage,
gaps and overlap between programs, and outcome-based performance
for the target population.
The three overarching themes of FANRP are:
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Diet and Nutritional Outcomes—Studies how the
programs enhance access to and choices of palatable,
nutritious, and healthy diets.
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Food Program Targeting and Delivery—Gauges the
success of programs aimed at needy, at-risk population
groups and examines program gaps and overlaps; differences
between rural and urban delivery; outreach; waste,
fraud, and abuse; commodity procurement and distribution;
public and private partnerships; and alternative ways
to deliver benefits.
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Program Dynamics and Administration—Focuses
on how program needs change with local labor market
conditions, economic growth, recession, and inflation
in food prices and the general economy, and how changing
State welfare programs interact with food and nutrition
programs.
Within these general themes, the topic areas for upcoming
research are determined annually. ERS holds annual priority-identification
conferences, the first of which was convened under the
auspices of the National Academy of Sciences, to listen
to the interests and concerns of many experts and to help
establish topic areas for upcoming research. ERS seeks
input from a broad constituency, including the Food and
Nutrition Service, the agency responsible for USDA’s
food assistance and nutrition programs, State-level program
administrators, service providers, associations, industry
groups, public-interest groups, advocates, and researchers.
The priority research areas for fiscal 2007 are:
- Food Choices: Economic Determinants and Consequences
- Economic Incentives in Food Assistance Programs
- Food Assistance as an Economic Safety Net
The competitive
grants and cooperative agreements for the year incorporate
the above research areas, supplemented by the RIDGE
Program with its site-specific research agendas.
FANRP Activities
FANRP funds a portfolio of extramural research, including
grants, cooperative agreements, and contracts that are
competitively awarded through a tightly run peer review
process. The publication
Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program, Final
Report: Fiscal 2007 Activities provides an overview
of FANRP's research themes, principles,
publications, and activities and describes the objectives
of individual research projects.
Studies conducted by ERS staff are an integral part of
the FANRP program. An internal study can have rapid turnaround
from project conception to delivery and monitor sensitive
policy issues. Interagency agreements and cooperative
agreements enable ERS staff to supplement their own expertise
with the knowledge and resources of other government agencies
and academic institutions. The diverse backgrounds of
ERS staff enable the agency to adopt interdisciplinary
or discipline-specific approaches, as warranted by each
research topic.
An especially important objective of FANRP is research
that provides policymakers with information to improve
food assistance programs. FANRP has conducted a number
of congressionally mandated studies. In fiscal 1998, FANRP
began three such studies: "Family Child Care Homes
Legislative Changes Study," "Use of Food Stamps
to Purchase Dietary Supplements," and "State
Use of Funds to Increase Work Slots for Food Stamp Recipients."
In fiscal 1999, a mandated study on "WIC Cost Containment
Practices" began. In fiscal 2001, two mandated studies
were conducted on "Plate Waste in School Nutrition
Programs" and on "Infant Formula Prices and
Availability."
FANRP contributes to basic science as it relates to program
implementation and evaluations. It has supported research
by the World Health Organization (WHO) on breastfed infants’
growth rates and work by the National Academy of Sciences
on the use and interpretation of new dietary reference
intakes (DRI’s) that are replacing the Recommended
Dietary Allowances.
In accordance with the program’s principles, the
results of FANRP research are widely disseminated. To
convey results, FANRP uses such means as ERS reports,
articles in professional periodicals, and papers at conferences,
as well as taking advantage of the latest in Internet
technology through the ERS website. Research is most effective
when it is available to decisionmakers who need the information,
be they members of the public, State and local government,
USDA and other departments or agencies, or the U.S. Congress.
Program Principles
The program principles upon which FANRP is built ensure
the reliability and usefulness of the research.
- Research that meets the needs of all stakeholders—program
participants, USDA, Congress, and the public.
- Integrated, comprehensive program that conducts research
in the broader context of current and future economic
and social environments.
- Broad array of public and private entities directly
involved in research, evaluation, and review efforts.
- Integration of ERS staff expertise in the development,
implementation, and accomplishment of research projects.
- Scientifically rigorous studies and evaluations with
verifiable and unbiased results.
- Rigorous internal and external review of research
results.
- Public availability of data.
- Wide distribution of research findings.
- Development and maintenance of continuous data sets.
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