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ERS's National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase
Survey (FoodAPS) will provide unique and detailed data
about household food choices that are not available from
any other survey. FoodAPS is a nationally representative
survey of household food purchases and acquisitions. Detailed
information will be collected about foods purchased for
consumption at home and away from home as well as foods
acquired through food and nutrition assistance programs
(both public and private).
The data collection effort will yield information not
previously available to researchers, thereby broadening
the scope of economic analyses of food choices and what
those choices mean for diet quality. The survey will be
designed, field tested, and launched over the next 5 years.
In September 2009, ERS and its co-sponsor—the Food
and Nutrition Service (FNS)—contracted with Mathematica
Policy Research (MPR) to undertake the National Household
Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey (also called the
National Food Study). A field test will begin on January
15, 2011. MPR has established a website to communicate
key information about the study for participants, including
the legitimacy and importance of the study. See The National Food Study.
Key Research Questions
The survey will examine the following issues:
- How do economic factors (such as prices and income)
and demographic characteristics impact household food
purchase decisions and the nutritional value of food
acquisitions?
- What is the influence of nutrition knowledge on food
purchases?
- How does participation in food and nutrition assistance
programs influence food purchases?
- How do economic dynamics, demographic factors, and
food and nutrition assistance programs influence the
ability of low-income households to consistently access
sufficient food for a healthy lifestyle?
- How do access and retail outlet choice and location
influence food purchases and the resulting nutritional
quality of food acquisitions?
Data to be Collected
The survey will collect information from up to 3,500
low-income and 1,500 higher income households about:
- Quantities, prices, and expenditures for all at-home
and away-from-home foods and beverages purchased and
acquired from all sources;
- Nutritional value of foods purchased and acquired;
- Eating occasions by household members;
- Household characteristics, including income, program
participation, non-food expenditures, food security,
health status, and diet and nutrition knowledge; and
- Household access to food, including location of purchase
and distance to outlets
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