Building Representative State Groupings in an Input-Output Model for the Development of an Economic Impact Calculator for Nutrition Incentive Programs

Abstract

Eating a diet high in fruits and vegetables is associated with a reduction in the risk of chronic diseases such as obesity, cardiovascular disease, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, asthma, depression, and mental illness, yet few low-income adults meet these recommendations. Nutrition incentive programs have emerged over the last decade to offer incentives to food-insecure households to purchase more fruits and vegetables. Although the goal of the program is to increase the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables, defenders of nutrition incentive programs increasingly want to document economic impacts of their programs but often lack the resources to do so. Rather than these programs spending their scarce resources on conducting studies, this research created a rigorous, yet easy to use tool that U.S.-based practitioners operating nutrition incentive programs can use to estimate the economic impact of their programs, including incentive redemptions at both farm-direct and brick-and-mortar businesses.