1. 2016

   The impact of food assistance programs on consumption patterns, food choices, and nutritional outcomes is a central theme of research funded through the RIDGE Program in FY 2016. These projects will be presented at the RIDGE Conference scheduled in October 2016:

   The Effects of SNAP on Non-Food Consumption: An Instrumental Variables Approach Lorenzo Almada, School of Social Work, Columbia University

   Design Flaws: The Effect of the Coverage Gap in Food Assistance Programs on Children’s Well-Being Irma Arteaga and Colleen Heflin, School of Public Affairs, University of Missouri

   The Impact of Expanding the National School Meals Program on School Performance Joseph Price, Department of Economics, Brigham Young University, and Daniel Rees, Department of Economics, University of Colorado, Denver

   The Impacts of School Lunch Reforms on Student Outcomes Diane Schanzenbach, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University

   Identifying Multiple Patterns of Characteristics that Result in U.S. Urban and Rural Households having Very Low Food Security Using Classification Trees Edward Frongillo Jr., Maryah S. Fram, and Seul Ki Choi, University of South Carolina

   Community Eligibility and Child Well-Being Colleen Heflin, University of Missouri and Daniel P. Miller, Boston University School of Social Work

   Spatially Heterogeneous Effects of SNAP Participation and Food Insecurity on Hispanic Children’s Physical and Mental Health Shannon Monnat and Jennifer Van Hook, Pennsylvania State University

   Rural and Urban Comparisons of SNAP Participation, Neighborhood Effects, and Food Outlet Availability on Childhood and Adult Time with Normal and Obese Weight: Using the NLSY Thomas Vartanian, Bryn Mawr College

   Additionally, two RIDGE Doctoral Dissertation Grants were awarded in FY 2016:

   Obesity, Cultural Identity, and Food Distribution Programs in the Choctaw Nation of Oklahoma Kasey Jernigan, University of Massachusetts; Supervising Professor, Tom Leatherman, University of Massachusetts, Amherst

   Exploring Race, Class, and Food Access across Different Geographic Scales Lillian MacNell, North Carolina State University; Supervising Professor, Sarah Bowen, North Carolina State University

   Also in FY 2016, an Interagency Agreement between the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and the Economic Research Service (ERS) was initiated to provide funding for the recompetition of a grant to establish a Research Center to administer the Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Program. The recompetition will (1) provide renewed focus on economic aspects of food and nutrition assistance research, (2) stimulate new and innovative research on domestic food and nutrition assistance issues by providing small grants for new analyses of the USDA major food and nutrition assistance programs, food security, and smaller, less studied programs such as the Summer Food Service Program, (3) broaden the support of both established and emerging scholars to increase the number and diversity of researchers who collaborate in tackling the unique food and nutrition challenges that exist across communities, regions, and States, and (4) achieve cost savings through administration of program activities at a single center. The impact of food assistance programs on consumption patterns, food choices, and nutritional outcomes was a central theme of research funded through the RIDGE Program in FY 2016. Findings from these RIDGE research projects were presented at the annual conference held in Washington, DC, October 2016. Summaries of the studies were added to the ERS website at https://data.ers.usda.gov/FANRP-ridge-project-summaries.aspx. The research studies were:

   The Effects of SNAP on Non-Food Consumption: An Instrumental Variables Approach Lorenzo Almada, School of Social Work, Columbia University

   Design Flaws: The Effect of the Coverage Gap in Food Assistance Programs on Children’s Well-Being Irma Arteaga and Colleen Heflin, School of Public Affairs, University of Missouri

   The Impact of Expanding the National School Meals Program on School Performance Joseph Price, Department of Economics, Brigham Young University, and Daniel Rees, Department of Economics, University of Colorado, Denver

   The Impacts of School Lunch Reforms on Student Outcomes Diane Schanzenbach, School of Education and Social Policy, Northwestern University

   Identifying Multiple Patterns of Characteristics that Result in U.S. Urban and Rural Households having Very Low Food Security Using Classification Trees Edward Frongillo Jr., Maryah S. Fram, and Seul Ki Choi, University of South Carolina

   Community Eligibility and Child Well-Being Colleen Heflin, University of Missouri and Daniel P. Miller, Boston University School of Social Work

   Spatially Heterogeneous Effects of SNAP Participation and Food Insecurity on Hispanic Children’s Physical and Mental Health Shannon Monnat and Jennifer Van Hook, Pennsylvania State University

   Rural and Urban Comparisons of SNAP Participation, Neighborhood Effects, and Food Outlet Availability on Childhood and Adult Time with Normal and Obese Weight: Using the NLSY Thomas Vartanian, Bryn Mawr College

   Using Geo-ethnography to Understand How Place and Space Matter in Issues of Food Access Lillian MacNell, North Carolina State University

   Also in FY 2016, an Interagency Agreement between the Food and Nutrition Service (FNS) and the Economic Research Service (ERS) was initiated to provide funding for the recompetition of a grant to establish a Research Center to administer the Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Program. The recompetition was implemented to (1) provide renewed focus on economic aspects of food and nutrition assistance research, (2) stimulate new and innovative research on domestic food and nutrition assistance issues by providing small grants for new analyses of the USDA major food and nutrition assistance programs, food security, and smaller, less studied programs such as the Summer Food Service Program, (3) broaden the support of both established and emerging scholars to increase the number and diversity of researchers who collaborate in tackling the unique food and nutrition challenges that exist across communities, regions, and States, and (4) achieve cost savings through administration of program activities at a single center.

   A grant was awarded to Tufts University and the University of Connecticut (Tufts/UConn) to jointly administer a program of sub-awards to investigators at universities and other institutions for research projects conducted during FY 2017-18. Tufts/UConn provides oversight of the application, peer review, sub-grant award, and quality-assurance processes of the RIDGE Program to (1) support food and nutrition assistance research at the national level as well as for specific populations, such as immigrants, Native Americans, people living in rural areas, or residents in areas who experience limited access to healthy foods; and (2) disseminate these research findings to a diverse stakeholder audience, including other researchers, policy and program officials, and the general public.

2. 2017

   The Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Program encourages new and innovative research on food and nutrition assistance issues and broadens the participation of social science scholars in such research. RIDGE is funded by USDA’s Economic Research Service and Food and Nutrition Service and administered in partnership with several universities during FY 2016-18:

   • The RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research at the Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin-Madison (ended FY 2016), and • The RIDGE Center for Targeted Food and Nutrition Assistance Research at the Center for Regional Development, Purdue University (ended FY 2016); • Tufts University, Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy, and the University of Connecticut (beginning FY 2017).

   The RIDGE partnership institutions oversee the application, peer review, award, and performance processes of the research grants provided through the RIDGE Program. The institutions serve as a hub for mentoring and training researchers interested in food and nutrition assistance issues and provide a source of timely and accessible information on new research findings.

   RIDGE Program Activities, FY 2017

   The newly established Tufts/UConn RIDGE Program announced a call for research projects in FY 2017. To evaluate the proposals, Tufts/UConn developed an online proposal and submission site through the FluidReview platform, formed an external advisory committee, and established a community of proposal reviewers and project mentors. A diverse set of projects was selected through this competitive review process, with input from ERS and FNS, for research to be conducted during FY 2017-18. Grants were awarded for:

   Is Food Assistance Like Cash for Retailers? Marianne Bitler, University of California, Davis

   The Effects of Disability, SNAP Participation and Changes in Benefits on Food Insecurity Seungyeon Cho, Texas A&M University, Texas AgriLife Research

   Does SNAP Encourage Claiming Disability Insurance Benefits? Emmanuel Drabo, Stanford University

   Understanding the Impact of Changes to the Child and Adult Care Food Program on Food Expenditures, Food Quality, and Young Children’s Dietary Intake in Urban Family Child Care Homes Erica Kenney, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

   Food Choices of SNAP/WIC Participants at Convenience Stores and Supermarkets Grace Melo, University of Georgia

   Multi-generational Effects of Prenatal and Early Life Access to SNAP Marianne Page, University of California, Davis

   The Impact of the Monthly SNAP Issuance Cycle on Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Purchasing and Implications for Policy Change Eric Rimm, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

   Does Universal Free School Meals Reduce Childhood Obesity? Michah Rothbart, Maxwell School, Syracuse University

   Organizational Readiness for Knowledge Translation and WIC Participation Naisi Zhao, Tufts University School of Medicine

3. 2018

   Economic research aimed at enhancing food security and dietary quality for low-income Americans through the Nation’s Nutrition Assistance Programs was a central theme of research funded through the RIDGE Program in FY 2017-2018. Findings from these RIDGE research projects were presented at the biennial conference held in Washington, DC, October 2018. Summaries of the studies were added to the ERS website at https://data.ers.usda.gov/FANRP-ridge-project-summaries.aspx. The research studies were:

   Do Universal Free School Meals Reduce Childhood Obesity? Michah Rothbart, Syracuse University

   The Impact of the Monthly SNAP Issuance Cycle on Sugar-Sweetened Beverage Purchasing and Implications for Policy Change Eric Rimm, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

   Does SNAP Encourage Claiming Disability Insurance Effects? Emmanuel Drabo, Johns Hopkins University

   The Effects of Disability, SNAP Participation and Changes in Benefits on Food Insecurity Seungyeon Cho, Texas A&M

   Multi-generational Effects of Prenatal and Early Life Access to SNAP Marianne Page, University of California, Davis

   Is Food Assistance Like Cash for Retailers? Marianne Bitler, University of California, Davis

   Food Choices of SNAP Participants at Convenience Stores and Large Retailers Grace Melo, University of Georgia

   Organizational Readiness for Knowledge Translation and WIC Participation Naisi Zhao, Tufts University School of Medicine Understanding the Impact of Changes to the Child and Adult Care Food Program on Food Expenditures, Food Quality, and Young Children’s Dietary Intake in Urban Family Child Care Homes Erica Kenney, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

4. 2019

   The Tufts/UConn RIDGE Program announced a call for research projects in FY 2019. To evaluate the proposals, Tufts/UConn developed an online proposal and submission site through the FluidReview platform, formed an external advisory committee, and established a community of proposal reviewers and project mentors. A diverse set of projects was selected through this competitive review process, with input from ERS and FNS, for research to be conducted during FY 2019-2020. Seven grants were for faculty researchers (up to $50,000 each) and one grant was for postdoctoral research (up to $30,000). Grants were awarded for:

   Does maternal depression caused by food insufficiency influence parenting practices and impact infant wellbeing? The role of SNAP Irma Arteaga, University of Missouri

   SNAP and work-related policies: An in-depth analysis of low-wage worker perspectives and behaviors Caitlin Caspi, University of Minnesota

   Food insecurity and child food consumption patterns among WIC participating families in Los Angeles County within the context of the WIC food package change and WIC + SNAP concurrent participation M. Pia Chaparro, Tulane University

   Labor supply distortions from nutrition assistance programs: Evidence from a bunching estimator Jason Cook, University of Pittsburgh

   Understanding barriers to SNAP enrollment among college students Maggie Dickinson, CUNY Guttman

   SNAP, school meals, and the food security of multigenerational households Agustina Laurito, University of Illinois at Chicago

   Breakfast in the classroom, body mass index, and academic outcomes Michael Thomsen, University of Arkansas

   Did the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act Help Improve Dietary Quality among School-Age Children? Pourya Valizadeh, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

5. 2020

   Research projects funded by Tufts/UConn in FY 2019 will be completed during FY 2020 and findings presented at the biennial RIDGE Conference scheduled for October 14, 2020. Rounds 1 and 2 have been highly successful. Round 3 is now in progress. Current projects are the following:

   Does maternal depression caused by food insufficiency influence parenting practices and impact infant well-being? The role of SNAP $49,998;

   SNAP and work-related policies: an in-depth analysis of low-wage worker perspectives and behaviors $49,871;

   Food insecurity and child food consumption patterns among WIC participating families in Los Angeles County within the context of the WIC food package change and WIC + SNAP concurrent participation $49,958;

   Labor Supply Distortions from Nutrition Assistance Programs: Evidence from a Bunching Estimator $42,153;

   Understanding Barriers to Low SNAP Enrollment Among College Students $49,999;

   SNAP, school meals, and the food security of multigenerational households $50,000;

   Breakfast in the classroom, body mass index, and academic outcomes $49,940;

   Did the Healthy Hunger-Free Kids Act Help Improve Dietary Quality among Low-Income Children? $29,980.

6. 2024

   Economic researchers funded through the RIDGE program presented research on food and nutrition at a consortium at the Food and Nutrition Service headquarters.

Single Audit Applies (2 CFR Part 200 Subpart F):

For additional information on single audit requirements for this program, review the current Compliance Supplement.

1. 7 U.S.C. § 3318(c).