July 23, 2013
Food Assistance and the Farm Bill Debate
Amidst the current Farm Bill debate, University of Arkansas Law professor Susan Schneider offers a reasoned assessment of who benefits from federal nutrition programs, the efficiency in which the programs are implemented, and the economic impact of spending food stamp dollars in local communities. The article is featured in the Agricultural Law Blog, the official blog of the Association of American Law Schools section on agricultural and food law.
May 30, 2013
USDA Report: Disability a Risk Factor for Food Insecurity
A recent issue of Amber Waves, from the USDA Economic Research Service, reports on a new study showing that disability is one of the strongest factors affecting a household’s food security status. The report states that in 2009-2010 “one-third of households with a working-age adult who was unable to work due to disability were food insecure,” compared to “12 percent of households that had no working-age adults with disabilities.” Food insecurity is often more severe in households that include adults with disabilities. The full report, Food Insecurity Among Households with Working-Age Adults with Disabilities, is available online.
Dec. 20, 2012
USDA Report: The Concentration of Poverty is a Growing Rural Problem
The December edition of Amber Waves highlights a concerning trend: the growth and concentration of rural poverty. While poverty grew throughout the United States as a result of the 2001 and 2007-2009 economic recessions, it grew faster in rural areas, compared to metropolitan areas. The report notes that “in 2006-10, 26.2 percent of the Nation’s nonmetro [i.e. rural] counties were high poverty, 5.8 percentage points higher than in 2000.” By comparison, 10.3 percent of metropolitan counties were high poverty counties in 2006-10, increasing 3.7 percentage points from 2000. The report also points to the impact of poverty, noting that…