Timothy Beatty Professor of Agricultural and Resource Economics
Professor Beatty is a Professor in the Department of Agricultural
and Resource Economics at the University of California,
Davis. His research relates to the empirical analysis of
consumption behavior, in particular as it relates to health
outcomes. Professor Beatty’s research has tended to focus on food
consumption and the demand for nutrition and health, at both the
household and aggregate levels.
The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) serves as a safety net for more than 41 million low-income families, but only about 80 percent of eligible individuals participate.[1] Among SNAP-eligible agricultural workers, take-up is likely even lower.[2] In a recent study, we explored the seasonality of agricultural employment and the extent to which its associated administrative burdens impact households’ SNAP eligibility and participation. To measure households’ attachment to SNAP, we used ‘churn’—exit and subsequent re-entry into SNAP—among Fresno County, CA households.
Food assistance is a large part of the food economy, with Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) redemptions totaling $76 billion in 2013, representing more than 10 percent of sales at supermarkets. Such assistance is important to the millions of Americans who depend on it. Less clear until now has been how food assistance shapes the retail food environment. In a recent study, we set out to find out whether the rollout of Food Stamps during the 1960s and 1970s affected the retail environment.
