Food Policy Evaluation - World Food Policy Center

Animating Questions

How can exploring social safety net and farm to institution economics lead to improved public health outcomes, particularly for marginalized populations?
Where are gaps in public health policy and practice?
How do people experiencing food insecurity cope with those challenges and navigate food systems and social programs?
How can we invest differently to effectively address food insecurity?
How can the actual food buying/using/disposal behaviors of consumers inform policy decisions?

Projects

Exploring Farmer Incentives for Gleaning in North Carolina

Exploratory Analysis on Effects of the Community Eligibility Provision on Learning and Behavioral Outcomes of Children in NC

The Economic and Social Implications of Online Grocery Platforms for U.S. Consumers

From Scarcity to Prosperity: Nutrition & Food Spending Goals and Constraints for Americans with Low Incomes

Online Grocery Shopping as a Mediating Intervention in the Administration of SNAP Benefits: A Pilot Study

Understanding Micro-pantries as an Emergency Food Source During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Grocery Food Taxes and Evidence for Food Security Policy-Makers

Peer Reviewed Research Papers

Shopping carts illustrating food insecurity

Net worth poverty and food insecurity

Lisa A. Kiester, Christina M. Gibson-Davis, Lisa Gennetian, Noah Gibson. Net worth poverty and food insecurity. American Journal of Agricultural Economics. 2025:1-25. DOI: 10.1111/ajae.12537

Food waste, date labels, and risk preferences: An experimental exploration

Norbert Lance Weston Wilson, Ruiqing Miao. Food waste, date labels, and risk preferences: An experimental exploration. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy. 2025;1-29. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13507

Front-of-pack labels and young consumers: An experimental investigation of nutrition and sustainability claims in Chile

Gabriela Fretes, Norbert L.W. Wilson, Camila Corvalan, Christina D. Economos, Sean Cash. Front-of-pack labels and young consumers: An experimental investigation of nutrition and sustainability claims in Chile. Food Quality and Preference Volume 127, June 2025, 105432. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodqual.2025.105432

Variations on the Thrift Food Plan: Model diets that satisfy cost and nutrition constraints

Yiwen Zhao, Linlin Fan, Norbert L.W. Wilson, Angelica Valdes Valderrama, Parke Wilde. Variations on the Thrift Food Plan: Model diets that satisfy cost and nutrition constraints. Food Policy 130 (2025) 102781

Stakeholders in the RECIPES Network project

Whither convergence? Co-designing convergent research and wrestling with its emergent tensions

Ashton, W. S., A. Sungu, L. Davis, V. Agarwalla, M. Burke, E. Duhart Benavides, S. Espat, K. Harper, A. Knight, N. Labruto, M. Shea, S. Verba, and N. L. W. Wilson. 2024. Whither convergence? Co-designing convergent research and wrestling with its emergent tensions. Ecology and Society 29(4):26. [online] URL: https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/vol29/iss4/art26

land grant university mission - speech analysis

Have agricultural and applied economists lost sight of the land-grant mission? A textual analysis of Presidential Addresses and Invited Papers from 1919–2022

Norbert L.W. Wilson, Natalie Hochhaus. Have agricultural and applied economists lost sight of the land-grant mission? A textual analysis of the Presidential Addresses and Invited Papers from 1919-2022. Appl Econ Perspect Policy. 2024; 1-20. https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/aepp.13456

Virtual water trade: Does bilateral tariff matter?

Rui Chen, Derick T. Adu, Wenying Li, Norbert L.W. Wilson. Virtual water trade: Does bilateral tariff matter? Ecological Economics, 222 (2024) 108216. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2024.108216

The longitudinal association between caregivers’ perceived competence and autonomy and children’s dietary consumption before and 10 months into the COVID-19 pandemic.

Chacón, V., Chung, M., Folta, S. C., Hennessy, E., Macfarlane, H., Roberto, C. A., Tovar, A; Wilson, NLW; Economos, C. D. (2024). The longitudinal association between caregivers’ perceived competence and autonomy and children’s dietary consumption before and 10 months into the COVID-19 pandemic. Appetite, 195, 107205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.appet.2024.107205

The distribution of competitive research grants from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture: A comparison of 1862 land grant universities, 1890 land grant universities, and other institutions

Wilson, Norbert; Walters, Lurleen; Wade, Tara; Reynolds, Kenesha. The distribution of competitive research grants from the National Institute for Food and Agriculture: A comparison of 1862 land grant universities, 1890 land grant universities, and other institutions. Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy, December 15, 2023; 1-19. https://doi.org/10.1002/aepp.13413

The creation of an online grocery store for experimental purposes: A pilot study

This paper describes the development of an online grocery store that displays actual products, brands, sizes, prices, pictures, and ingredient lists sold in current online grocery stores in the United States.