Determinants of Food Resource Utilization among Low-Income Households in North Alabama, USA

James O. Bukenya^1,

¹College of Agricultural, Life and Natural Sciences, Alabama A & M University, USA

Cite this paper:
James O. Bukenya. Determinants of Food Resource Utilization among Low-Income Households in North Alabama, USA. Journal of Applied Agricultural Economics and Policy Analysis. 2019; 2(1):8-15. doi: 10.12691/jaaepa-2-1-2

Abstract

The objective of this study is to examine the food security status of selected low-income households in north Alabama and to assess the factors believed to influence their participation in public-funded and private/community-based food assistance programs. The analysis draws on primary data from food security and a socio-economic survey administered to 700 low-income households. The main tools of analysis include descriptive statistics and logistic regression models. The descriptive results show that roughly 21 percent of the low-income families, who completed the questionnaire, are characterized as being food insecure; while the participation rate in food assistance programs is estimated at 21 percent. The factors that predict households’ participation in food assistance programs, based on the logit model results, include gender of household head, education, household size, income, and ethnicity. The results can assist local leaders in designing appropriate strategies to reduce food insecurity among low-income households in North Alabama.

Keywords:
food insecurity urban households food assistance programs logit model

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service (2007). Office of Research, Nutrition, and Analysis, Dynamics of Food Stamp Program Participation, 2001-2003, by Scott Cody, et al. Project Officer: Christine Kissmer, Alexandria, VA: 2007. Retrieved from https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/Dynamics2001-2003.pdf.
[2]	FRAC. (2017).Profile of hunger, poverty, and federal nutrition programs. Retrieved from http://www.frac.org/maps/sos/sos-map.html.
[3]	Coleman-Jensen, A., Rabbitt, M.P., Gregory, C., and Singh, A. (2017). Household food security in the United States in 2016. ERR-215. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service, September 2017.6. Retrieved from https://www.ers.usda.gov/webdocs/publications/84973/err-237.pdf.
[4]	Anderson, M.P., Butcher, K.F., Hoynes, H.W., and Schanzenbach, D.W. (2015). Beyond income: What else predicts very low food security among children? University of Kentucky Center for Poverty Research Discussion Paper Series DP2014-06. Retrieved from http://www.ukcpr.org/content/beyond-income-what-else-predicts-very-low-food-security-among-children.
[5]	Martin, K.S., Cook, J.T., Rogers, B.L., and Joseph, H.M. (2003). Public versus private food assistance: Barriers to participation differ by age and ethnicity. Journal of Nutrition Education Behavior 35: 249-254.
[6]	Fuller-Thomson, E., and Redmond, M. (2008). Falling through the social safety net: food stamp use and nonuse among older impoverished Americans. The Gerontologist 48(2): 235-244.
[7]	U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service. (2017). State-level prevalence of food insecurity. Retrieved from https://www.ers.usda.gov/topics/food-nutrition-assistance/food-security-in-the-us/key-statistics-graphics.aspx#map.
[8]	Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. (2018). Whom Does SNAP Reach? Retrieved from https://www.cbpp.org/sites/default/files/atoms/files/snap_factsheet_alabama.pdf.
[9]	Feeding America. 2016. Food Security in Alabama. Retrieved from http://map.feedingamerica.org/county/2014/overall/alabama.
[10]	Clark, M.A. (2012). A Systematic literature review of household food security and overweight/obese status among low-income children. Honors Theses. Paper 105. Retrieved from https://docplayer.net/39680631-A-systematic-literature-review-of-household-food-security-and-overweight-obese-status-among-low-income-children.html.
[11]	Yu, M., Lombe, M., and Nebbitt, V.E. (2010). Food stamp program participation, informal supports, household food security, and child food security: A comparison of African American and Caucasian households in poverty. Children and Youth Service Review 32: 767-773.
[12]	Greenwald, H.P., and Zajfen, V. (2017). Food insecurity and food resource utilization in an urban immigrant community. Journal of Immigrant Minority Health 19: 179.
[13]	Bhattarai, G.R., Duffy, P.A., and Raymond, J. (2005). Use of food pantries and food stamps in low-income households in the United States. Journal of Consumer Affairs 39 (2): 276-298.
[14]	Ratcliffe, C., McKernan, S., and Zhang, S. (2011). How much does the supplemental nutrition assistance program reduce food insecurity? American Journal of Agriculture Economics 93 (4): 1082-98.
[15]	Patton-Lopez, M.M., Lopez-Cevallos, D.F., Cancel-Tirado, D.I., and Vasquez, L. (2014). Prevalence and correlates of food insecurity among students attending a midsize rural university in Oregon. Journal of Nutrition Education Behavior 46(3): 209-14.
[16]	Mayer, V.L., Bachhuber, M.A., and Long, J. (2014). Food insecurity, neighborhood food access, and food assistance in Philadelphia. Journal of Urban Health 91(6):1087-97.
[17]	Greene W.H. 2000. Econometric analysis, Prentice Hall Inc., Upper Saddle River, New Jersey.
[18]	Bukenya, J. O. (2017). Determinants of food insecurity in Huntsville metropolitan area, Alabama. Journal of Food Distribution Research 48(1): 73-80.
[19]	USDA-ERS. (2015). The food access research atlas. Retrieved from https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-access-research-atlas/go-to-the-atlas/.
[20]	Bickel, G., Nord, N., Price, C., Hamilton, W., and Cook, J. (2000). Guide to measuring household food security. Retrieved from http://www.fns.usda.gov/sites/default/files/FSGuide.pdf.
[21]	Garson, G.D. (2009). Logistic regression: Statnotes. North Carolina State University. Retrieved from http://faculty.chass.ncsu.edu/garson/PA765/logistic.htm.
[22]	Gujarati, D. (2011). Econometrics by example, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.
[23]	Biggerstaff, M.A., Morris, P.M, and Nichols-Casebolt, A. (2002). Living on the edge: Examination of people attending food pantries and soup kitchens. Social Work 47(3): 267-277.
[24]	Smith, T.M., Bertmann, F.M.W. Pinard, C.A., Schober, D.J., Shuval, K., Nguyen, B.T., Fricke, H.E., and Yaroch, A.L. (2016). Factors associated with supplemental nutrition assistance program participation among the working poor: Findings from 2012 American Community Survey. Journal of Hunger and Environmental Nutrition 12(2): 1-12.
[25]	Cohen, N., and Ilieva, R. T. (2015). Transitioning the food system: A strategic practice management approach for cities. Environmental Innovation and Societal Transitions, 17, 199-217.
[26]	Mabli, J, Tordella, S. Castner, L. Godfrey, T., and Foran, P. (2011). Dynamics of supplemental nutrition assistance program participation in the mid-2000s. U.S. Department of Agriculture, Food and Nutrition Service, Office of Research and Analysis. Retrieved from https://fns-prod.azureedge.net/sites/default/files/DynamicsMid2000.pdf.
[27]	Gundersen, C., and Ziliak, J.P. (2008). The age gradient in food stamp program participation: does income volatility matter? In Income Volatility and Food Assistance in the United States (pp. 171-214). W.E. Upjohn Institute. Retrieved from https://experts.illinois.edu/en/publications/the-age-gradient-in-food-stamp-program-participation-does-income.
[28]	Hong, S.A. and Kim, K. (2014). Factors contributing to participation in food assistance programs in the elderly population. Nutrition Research and Practice, 8(4): 425-431.