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  • RIDGE Program (Food Assistance/Nutrition)
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Addressing the Food Assistance/Nutrition Challenges of Vulnerable People and Communities in the Rural South

The SRDC maintains a strong working partnership with the Economic Research Service, a collaboration that seeks to invest in innovative social sciences-based research addressing a variety of food assistance and nutrition issues in the South. This annual competitive grants program is known as the Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics, or RIDGE, Program.    

The central focus of our Center’s RIDGE initiative is on food assistance-related issues having important bearing on the region’s vulnerable populations and communities, including the persistently poor, children and youth, single parent families, elderly and racial/ethnic minorities. We are interested in understanding the unique challenges facing individuals and families embedded in various spatial localities, be they in nonmetropolitan counties, rural places or low-wealth areas of the South.      

• RIDGE Project Summaries, 2007
  Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics Program
  
  
• Current Activities
  Descriptions of the SRDC’s most recently funded food-assistance projects
  
  
• Project Highlights
  One-page summaries of projects funded since 2000 addressing our six major food assistance themes
  
  
• Past SRDC Funded Projects
  Search our database of funded RIDGE projects by year, principal investigator or theme
  
  
• Food Assistance Policy Series and Other Special Reports
  Policy series reports that showcase key articles written by researchers whose studies we have funded as part the RIDGE program, as well as special publications generated by our Center, ERS and other universities and agencies addressing food assistance topics
  
  
• ERS Searchable Database
  A link to ERS’s RIDGE Data Information System, a valuable tool that provides easy access to summaries of all RIDGE-supported projects completed throughout the nation since 1998
  
  
• Call for Proposals
  The Center’s most recent call for proposals as part of our RIDGE Competitive Grants Program

Research Resources Other Resources Ecological Predictors and Developmental Outcomes of Persistent Childhood Overweight Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program Database (USDA) What Factors Account for State-to-State Differences in Food Security? (USDA) Could Behavioral Economics Help Improve Diet Quality for Nutrition Assistance Program Participants?(USDA) Informing Food and Nutrition Assistance Policy (USDA Economic Research service) Reaching Those in Need: State Food Stamp Participation in 2005 - October 2007 (USDA) ERS Series on Food Stamps (USDA)