Primary Outcomes (end points)
Food subsidy choice is binary: = 1 if the choice is for fruits & vegetables, = 0 if the choice is for baked goods. Subsidy use is the value of goods purchased within the category covered by the subsidy. We will report this both as a dollar amount and as a fraction of overall food spending. We will analyze the overall "nutrition" of a shopping trip, where nutrition is the ratio of spending on fruits & vegetables and meat & dairy to spending on baked goods, snacks and sweetened beverages. Our baseline and endline surveys capture behavior and welfare changes. Behavior changes are captured by shopping receipts from before and after the study. We will analyze these as stated above. Both surveys contain single-day food consumption diaries. We will analyze changes in the food diaries along 3 dimensions: (1) are there fruits & vegetables, (2) the ratio of fruits & vegetables to other goods, (3) overall nutrition. Welfare changes are captured with direct questions. We ask 2 questions on food sufficiency: 1)Which of these statements best describes the food eaten in your food household in the last 30 days? A: “Enough of the kinds of food we want to eat;” “Enough, but not always the kinds of food we want to eat;” “Sometimes not enough to eat;” “Often not enough to eat” 2) In the last 30 days, did you ever worry about whether your food would run out before you got money to buy more? A: “Almost always;” “Most of the time;” “About half of the time;” “Some of the time;” “Almost never.” We ask two questions on healthy foods: 1) In the last 30 days, did you ever feel like your food household couldn't afford to eat well-balanced (healthy) meals because you couldn't afford it? (same answers as before) 2) Do you think your food household eats the right amount of fruits and vegetables? A: “Yes, we eat the right amount;” “No, we should eat more;” “No, we should eat less.” We ask a question on physical health: How would you rate your physical health status? A: “Excellent;” “Very good;” “Good;” “Fair;” “Poor.” We ask a question on cognitive well-being: Thinking about the past couple weeks, do you find that you have difficulty maintaining energy, focus or attention? A: “Almost always;” “Most of the time;” “About half of the time;” “Some of the time;” “Almost never.” We collect self-reports of behavior change: Did you change the foods you ate because of the study (check all that apply)? A: “I ate more fruits & vegetables;” “I ate fewer fruits & vegetables;” “I ate more baked goods;” “I ate fewer baked goods.” We will analyze the within-individual changes in these variables: = 0 if the measure stayed the same, = 1 if the measure improved, = -1 if the measure worsened.