MEASURING FOOD INSECURITY AND HUNGER
PHASE 1 REPORT
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by Contract/Grant No. 43-3AEM-3-80125 between the National Academy of Sciences and the U.S. Department of Agriculture. Support of the work of the Committee on National Statistics is provided by a consortium of federal agencies through a grant from the National Science Foundation (Number SBR-0112521). Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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Suggested citation: National Research Council. (2005). Measuring Food Insecurity and Hunger: Phase 1 Report. Panel to Review U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Measurement of Food Insecurity and Hunger. Committee on National Statistics, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press.
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PANEL TO REVIEW U.S. DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE’S MEASUREMENT OF FOOD INSECURITY AND HUNGER
JANET L. NORWOOD (Chair),
Independent Consultant, Chevy Chase, MD
ERIC T. BRADLOW,
The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
J. MICHAEL BRICK,
Westat, Rockville, MD
EDWARD A. FRONGILLO, JR.,
Division of Nutritional Sciences, Cornell University
PAUL W. HOLLAND,
Research and Development Division, Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ
MICHAEL D. HURD,
Center for the Study of Aging, RAND, Santa Monica, CA
HELEN H. JENSEN,
Department of Economics, Iowa State University
NANCY MATHIOWETZ,
Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee
SUSAN E. MAYER,
Irving B. Harris Graduate School of Public Policy Studies, University of Chicago
DONALD (DIEGO) ROSE,
Department of Community Health Sciences, Tulane University
GOOLOO S. WUNDERLICH, Study Director
MICHELE VER PLOEG, Study Director (until October 2004)
JAMIE CASEY, Research Associate
CHRISTINE COVINGTON CHEN, Senior Program Assistant
MICHAEL SIRI, Senior Program Assistant (until November 2004)
COMMITTEE ON NATIONAL STATISTICS 2004–2005
WILLIAM F. EDDY (Chair),
Department of Statistics, Carnegie Mellon University
KATHARINE G. ABRAHAM,
Joint Program in Survey Methodology, University of Maryland
ROBERT BELL,
AT&T Research Laboratories, Florham Park, NJ
LAWRENCE D. BROWN,
Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania
ROBERT M. GROVES,
Survey Research Center, University of Michigan, and Joint Program in Survey Methodology, Ann Arbor
JOHN HALTIWANGER,
Department of Economics, University of Maryland
PAUL HOLLAND,
Educational Testing Service, Princeton, NJ
JOEL L. HOROWITZ,
Department of Economics, Northwestern University
DOUGLAS S. MASSEY,
Department of Sociology and Public Policy, Princeton University
VIJAYAN NAIR,
Department of Statistics and Department of Industrial and Operations Engineering, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor
DARYL PREGIBON,
Google Incorporated, New York
KENNETH PREWITT,
School of International and Public Affairs, Columbia University
LOUISE M. RYAN,
Department of Biostatistics, Harvard School of Public Health
NORA CATE SCHAEFFER,
Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison
CONSTANCE F. CITRO, Director
Acknowledgments
The Panel to Review the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Measurement of Food Insecurity and Hunger acknowledges with appreciation the contributions of the many persons who gave generously of their time and knowledge to this study.
Support for the study was provided by the Economic Research Service (ERS) and the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) of the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA). We particularly wish to thank Mark Prell, Chief, Food Assistance Branch, who served as project officer of the study. He and his colleagues, particularly Mark Nord and Margaret Andrews, were helpful in providing information about the research undertaken in the development and implementation of the measures of food insecurity and hunger and answering the many questions from the panel and staff. We acknowledge Susan Offutt, Administrator, and Phil Fulton, Associate Administrator, of ERS; Steven Carlson, Food and Nutrition Service; Betsey Kuhn, Director of the Food and Rural Economics Division (FRED); and David Smallwood, Deputy Director for Food Assistance Research, FRED, for recognizing the need and initiating and supporting this important study.
In addition we acknowledge the many federal and nonfederal government officials and those from the research and academic community who gave expert presentations to the panel at its initial meeting and participated in the workshop on the measurement of food insecu-
rity and hunger. We are grateful to the authors of the papers prepared for the workshop. Their names and the subjects of their papers are listed in Chapter 1. The papers were used by the panel and staff to guide them in drafting this report.
A number of people within the Committee on National Statistics (CNSTAT) and the Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education (DBASSE) provided support and assistance to the study panel. We acknowledge with gratitude the contributions of the staff. The panel wishes to thank Michele Ver Ploeg, who as study director until October 1, 2004, organized the work of the panel. She was chiefly responsible for developing and organizing the workshop during the first phase of the study. Gooloo Wunderlich was responsible for preparing the drafts of the Phase 1 report and responding to the many comments from the reviewers on behalf of the panel. Michael Siri and Christine Covington Chen handled administrative matters, and Jamie Casey provided research support. We are also grateful to Jerusha Nelson Peterman, who interned with CNSTAT in the summer of 2004, for her research assistance. Jerusha researched the reporting of food security estimates by the U.S. media, as well as uses of the food security supplement in other national, state, and local surveys. Christine McShane, senior editor of the DBASSE Reports office, provided professional editing advice, and Kirsten Sampson-Snyder shepherded the report through the report review and production process.
Finally, we would like to thank the members of the panel for their generous contributions of time and expert knowledge to the deliberations and preparation of this report.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspectives and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We thank the following individuals for their review of this report: Alicia L.
Carriquiry, Department of Statistics, Iowa State University; Robert S. Chen, Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN), The Earth Institute, Columbia University; John T. Cook, Department of Pediatrics, Boston Medical Center; Barbara Devaney, Nutrition Section, Mathematica Policy Research, Princeton, NJ; Johanna Dwyer, Medicine and Community Health, Tufts University School of Medicine, Boston and Office of Dietary Supplements, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD; Peter Eisinger, Department of Urban Politics and Economic Development Policy, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI; Allan L. McCutcheon, Gallup Research Center, University of Nebraska-Lincoln; and Nora Cate Schaeffer, Department of Sociology, University of Wisconsin-Madison.
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by David M. Betson, Department of Economics and Policy Studies, Notre Dame University and John C. Bailar, III, Department of Health Studies (emeritus), University of Chicago. Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
Janet L. Norwood, Chair
Panel to Review USDA’s Measurement of Food Insecurity and Hunger