Best of Amber Waves 2003 Winners

On January 15, 2004, ERS Administrator Susan Offutt announced the Best of Amber Waves Awards for 2003. These award winners were selected from a pool of high-quality nominees by the Amber Waves Editorial Board and a distinguished committee of external reviewers.

Best Feature:
U.S. Tobacco Industry Responding to New Competitors, New Challenges
Thomas Capehart, Jr.

Honorable Mention Feature:
Consumer-Driven Agriculture: Changing U.S. Demographics Influence Eating Habits
Nicole Ballenger and James Blaylock

Best Finding—Markets and Trade:
Is Japan Ready for Competition in Its Ag Markets?
John Dyck

Best Finding—Diet and Health:
Information Sways Consumer Attitudes Toward Biotech Foods
Abebayehu Tegene

Best Finding—Resources and Environment:
"Dead Zone" in the Gulf: Addressing Agriculture's Contribution
Marc Ribaudo

Best Finding—Rural America:
The Roots of Rural Population Loss
David McGranahan and Calvin Beale

Best Data Feature:
Trends in U.S. Per Capita Consumption of Dairy Products, 1909 to 2001
Judith Putnam and Jane Allshouse

Best Indicator:
Certified organic acreage and operations, 2001
Catherine Greene

Also Nominated

Features:

• China's Growing Affluence: How Food Markets are Responding—Fred Gale (June)
• Consumers and the Future of Biotech Foods in the United States—Robbin Shoemaker, D. Demcey Johnson, and Elise Golan (November)
• Dynamics of Agricultural Competitiveness: Policy Lessons from Abroad—Erik Dohlman, Stefan Osborne, and Bryan Lohmar (April)
• Emphasis Shifts in U.S. Agri-Environmental Policy—Roger Claassen (November)
• Multilateralism and Regionalism: Dual Strategies for Trade Reform—Mary Burfisher and Steven Zahniser (September)
• Nonmetro Poverty: Assessing the Effect of the 1990s—Dean Jolliffe (September)
• Plant Genetic Resources: New Rules for International Exchange—Kelly Day-Rubenstein and Paul Heisey (June)
• Production Costs Critical to Farming Decisions—William McBride (September)
• Putting Food on the Table: Household Food Security in the United States—Mark Nord and Margaret Andrews (February)
• Rural America: Opportunities and Challenges—Leslie Whitener and David McGranahan (February)

Findings:

• Competition Alters the U.S. Food Marketing Landscape—Stephen Martinez (November)
• Differences in Demand Help Shape Meat Trade—John Dyck and Kenneth Nelson (September)
• "Digital Divide" Not to Blame for Rural Earnings Shortfall—Lorin Kusmin (April)
• Exploring the Diversity of Rural America Through Interactive Mapping—Timothy Parker (September)
• Food Stamps and Child Poverty—Dean Jolliffe, Craig Gundersen, Laura Tiehen (February)
• Organic Agriculture Gaining Ground—Catherine Greene and Carolyn Dimitri (February)
• Rural Amenities: A Key Reason for Farmland Protection—Cynthia Nickerson and Daniel Hellerstein February)
• Vegetable Consumption Away from Home on the Rise—Gary Lucier (September)

Data Features:

• Ag Biotech Patents: Who’s Doing What? —John King and Paul Heisey (November)

Indicator Items:

• Farm employment—David Torgerson (September)
• Geographic distribution of government payments as a proportion of gross cash income from farming—Mitchell Morehart (September)
  

contact: Sheila Sankaran
page updated: March 9, 2004