Does a Nutritious Diet Cost More in Food Deserts?

Linlin Fan, Kathy Baylis, Craig Gundersen and Michele Ver Ploeg ()

No 205424, 2015 AAEA & WAEA Joint Annual Meeting, July 26-28, San Francisco, California from Agricultural and Applied Economics Association

Abstract: Food deserts and their potential effects on diet and nutrition have received much attention from policymakers. While some research has found correlations between food deserts and consumer outcomes, it is unclear whether food deserts truly affect consumption behavior. In this paper, we compare food prices in food deserts and non-food deserts to check whether lack of access is associated with higher food prices of a complete diet, which could constrain the consumption of healthy foods in food deserts. We use data on store-level sales from a nationally representative sample and calculate a census-tract level Exact Price Index (EPI) based on a food baskets defined by the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). To address potential biases, we control for both product heterogeneity and variety availability.

Keywords: Agricultural and Food Policy; Demand and Price Analysis; Food Security and Poverty (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2015
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https://ageconsearch.umn.edu/record/205424/files/F ... 15%20AAEAUpdated.pdf (application/pdf)

Related works:
Journal Article: Does a nutritious diet cost more in food deserts? (2018)
Working Paper: Does a Nutritious Diet Cost More in Food Deserts? (2016)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:ags:aaea15:205424

DOI: 10.22004/ag.econ.205424

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