This book extends the discussion of world food problems by giving explicit recognition to the potential role of markets. The authors highlight the contribution of prices to the solution of food problems in low-income countries, for example, by providing adequate incentives to farmers to expand production, assuring that food supplies can be obtained through trade when needed and giving appropriate signals to consumers. They also document the negative effects on food supply and national welfare of the actual price policies of many Third World governments. While recognizing the problems involved in defining and measuring hunger, as well as in improving the food supply, the authors consider the outlook for future food availability as favorable in terms of continued modest improvement in per capita food supplies at prices, adjusted for inflation, that are likely to continue the slow decline of recent decades. One focus of their comments is the positive roles that governments can and should play in the world food economy, especially in support of research, creation of human capital, and provision of appropriate rural infrastructure.

This book offers a broad introduction to food policies in the United States. Real-world controversies and debates motivate the book's attention to economic principles, policy analysis, nutrition science and contemporary data sources. It assumes that the reader's concern is not just the economic interests of farmers, but also includes nutrition, sustainable agriculture, the environment and food security. The book's goal is to make US food policy more comprehensible to those inside and outside the agri-food sector whose interests and aspirations have been ignored. The chapters cover US agriculture, food production and the environment, international agricultural trade, food and beverage manufacturing, food retail and restaurants, food safety, dietary guidance, food labeling, advertising and federal food assistance programs for the poor. The author is an agricultural economist with many years of experience in the non-profit advocacy sector, the US Department of Agriculture and as a professor at Tufts University. The author's well-known blog on US food policy provides a forum for discussion and debate of the issues set out in the book.

Much has been written about the economic causes of obesity, but this book offers a comprehensive and deep investigation of the causes and treatment of these issues in a single volume. In the second edition, the author expands upon the serious threat that obesity poses not only to our health, but also to our society. Obesity costs billions of dollars a year in lost productivity and medical expenses. The social distribution of obesity has changed over time. Obesity rates in the United States continue to worsen in parallel with income inequality. Socioeconomic groups with low personal capital, levels of education, and income have higher obesity rates. In fact, the rate of obesity has increased the fastest among low-income Americans. The disproportionate burden of obesity on the poor poses an economic challenge and an ethical imperative. The link between obesity, inactivity, and poverty may be too costly to ignore because obesity-associated chronic disease already accounts for 70% of US healthcare costs. Although economic and technological changes in the environment drove the obesity epidemic, the evidence for effective economic policies to prevent obesity remains limited. The new edition brings together a multitude of topics on obesity previously not discussed with a particular emphasis on the influence of poverty and income inequality on obesity including: Economic Analysis: Behavioral Patterns, Diet Choice, and the Role of Government Income and Wealth Inequality and Obesity Social Mobility and Health Food Policies, Government Interventions, and Reducing Poverty The Economics of Obesity is an essential text for readers interested in learning about the causes and consequences of obesity within a social context including students, academicians, and practitioners in public health, medicine, social sciences, and health economics, both in and outside of the United States. US and international policy-makers also will find the book a salient read in addressing the issues that contribute to the cycle of poverty, income inequality, and obesity.

Foodborne illnesses are an important health issue throughout the world. Food safety incidents cause significant economic losses in a multitude of ways, including discomfort, pain, loss in productivity, and death. This review examines issues in the economics of food safety. We first discuss the analysis of costs and benefits of food safety intervention and their usefulness in guiding policy making, and then look into the information problems that dampen the market incentives for the provision of food safety. Building on this discussion, we examine how a government can intervene in food safety either through direct intervention or by increasing the incentives for firms to supply safe food and then look briefly into private initiatives in food safety. We conclude by inviting new research that exploits new estimation techniques and newly available data.

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Food systems around the world face a triple challenge: providing food security and nutrition for a growing global population; supporting livelihoods for those working along the food supply chain; and contributing to environmental sustainability. Better policies hold tremendous promise for making progress in these domains.