facts and nonpartisan perspectives on the issues

IN THIS ISSUE

Rising Food Prices

Whether they're running for a local office or for president, candidates on the hustings in recent weeks have turned to a new campaign issue: the rising cost of food.

Voters are facing sticker shock in grocery aisles, communities are seeing food pantry stocks dwindle, and the presidential candidates are focusing on kitchen-table issues far more intensely than they might have expected when the campaign season started more than a year ago.

For stories or segments on the political impact of tight family food budgets, or on the policy response from state and federal lawmakers, Urban Institute experts are available for interviews. They can offer facts and nonpartisan perspectives for columns, articles, and brodcast reports.

Read more in the reports listed below and listen to Ken Finegold in the podcast at right.

KEY FACTS

• The consumer price index for food at home, the government's estimate of Americans' grocery costs, grew 4.2 percent in 2007, compared to 1.7 percent growth in 2006. The jump in 2007 was the sharpest rise since 1990. In 2008 the increase is forecast to be between 4 and 5 percent.
• In 2006, the most recent period for which statistics are available, 11 percent of U.S. households were food insecure at some time during the year. Food insecurity occurs when households cannot consistently afford enough food for what the USDA calls "a healthy, active lifestyle."
• Health problems are more prevalent among members of food-insecure households than among similar individuals in food-secure households.
• Federal and state spending on food stamps for families with children increased by $6 billion between 2002 and 2005, reversing a downward trend that began in 1996.
• Both economic and policy changes were behind the increased public spending on food stamps. A downturn in the economy meant more households qualified for benefits, and looser eligibility restrictions regarding family assets and immigration status increased participation.

Additional analysis is available in UI reports:

• Trends in Work Supports for Low-Income Families with Children—Sheila R. Zedlewski and Seth Zimmerman
• How Have Asset Policies for Cash Welfare and Food Stamps Changed Since the 1990s?—Signe-Mary McKernan and William Margrabe
• The Effect of State Food Stamp and TANF Policies on Food Stamp Program Participation—Caroline Ratcliffe, Signe-Mary McKernan, Kenneth Finegold
  
  

UI in the News

A Success Story That's Hard to Duplicate, The New York Times—cites UI research
Katrina's Economic Disaster, Talk of the Nation, National Public Radio—includes interview with UI expert

Decision Points '08 is published weekly by the Urban Institute, a nonpartisan social and economic research organization.
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