This dissertation is composed of three manuscripts focusing on food insecurity and food economics in the United States. The first manuscript titled ``Differences in Food Insecurity Across the Rural/Urban Spectrum - The Role of Trade Flows" uses county food trade data to examine its correlation with food insecurity rates based on a county's rural-urban continuum code. In addition, an Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition is employed to determine the causes of food insecurity rate differences between county's based on their rural-urban continuum codes.
The second manuscript titled ``The Role of Infrastructure on Food Flows in the United States" uses county food trade data to examine the relationship between county infrastructure important to the food supply chain, such as roadways, ports, food processing and manufacturing plants, grocery stores, supercenters, and restaurants, and the impact on food trade between counties. Specifically, two types of food trade from two Standard Classification of Transported Goods categories are analyzed: agricultural products, and other food stuffs. A Poisson pseudo-maximum likelihood model is employed to account for the zero-trade flows observed between counties. The analysis determines that certain infrastructure has an important impact, and the impact can differ depending on the type of goods category.
The third manuscript, "Reactions to Food Safety Recalls Among Food Insecure and Food Secure Households" examines the behavioral responses of food secure and food insecure persons to a hypothetical food safety recall using a vignette approach. The analysis finds that reactions can differ across demographics, including those of food insecure individuals. / Doctor of Philosophy / This dissertation focuses on two areas in agricultural and applied economics: food insecurity and food economics. In the first manuscript, I examine how certain types of food trade among counties in the United States impacts a county's food insecurity rate. I also determine how this impact changes based on a county's rural/urban status. Depending on the type of food that is traded, I find that food trade can have an impact on county food insecurity rates. Additionally, the impact of food trade on food insecurity rates differs depending on the rural/urban status of a county.
In the second manuscript, I use county food trade data to analyze the drivers of food trade between counties in the United States. Specifically, I examine how a county's infrastructure encourages or discourages the trade of agricultural products and other foodstuffs. I find that infrastructure like roadways, food processing and manufacturing plants, and ports are important drivers of food trade between counties.
Lastly, in the third manuscript, I study how food insecure and food secure persons might react differently to a food safety recall of eggs or romaine lettuce. Specifically, I determine how attributes such as price, travel time to a store, and risk of illness from consumption of a recalled food affect a person's decision to throw away, consume, or refund a recalled food. I find that price and travel time to a store impacts this decision. Additionally, I find that demographics such as a person's food insecurity status, race, age, and gender can influence their reaction to a food safety recall in some cases.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/111163 |
| Date | 07 July 2022 |
| Creators | Beverly, Mariah Danielle |
| Contributors | Economics, Ramsey, Ford, Neill, Clinton L., Moeltner, Klaus, Morgan, Kimberly L. |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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