Jessica Todd

Jessica E. Todd

Senior Agricultural Economist
202-694-5363
jessica.todd@usda.gov

Google Scholar profile

Briefly

Jessica Todd is a senior agricultural economist in the Food Economics Division (FED), Food Assistance Branch of the USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS). She conducts research on the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC) and Child Nutrition Programs. Her work is published in scholarly journals, ERS reports, and other outlets.

Background

Jessica returned to FED after nearly 3 years in ERS’s Resource and Rural Economics Division, where she led research on farm households for the Farm Economy Branch. Prior to that work, Jessica was in FED in the Diet, Safety, and Health Economics Branch, where she conducted research on the economics of food choices, diet and health outcomes, and food and nutrition assistance programs. Before joining ERS in 2007, Jessica worked primarily as a consultant for the Inter-American Development Bank, studying the impact of conditional cash transfer programs in Latin America. She has also consulted for the World Bank, the Center for Global Development, and the International Food Policy Research Institute.

Education

Jessica received a Ph.D. and an M.A. in economics from American University. She earned a B.S. in natural resources management from Colorado State University.

Selected Publications

Dobis, E.A. and J.E. Todd. May 2022. Health Care Access Among Self-Employed Workers in Nonmetropolitan Counties, AP-099, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

Williams, D., B. Brewer, and J.E. Todd, 2022. “Farm households' consumption of ad hoc program payments,” Applied Economic Policy and Perspectives.

Dubman, R., N. Key, J. Law, C. Litkowski, O. Mandalay, D. Subedi, J.E. Todd, and C. Whitt, 2021. Agricultural Income and Finance Situation and Outlook: 2021 Edition, EIB-228, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

Gregory, C. and J.E. Todd, 2021. “SNAP Timing and Food Insecurity,” PLOSOne, February 25, 2021, doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0246946.

Hoffman, S., L. Ashton, J.E. Todd, J. Ahn, and P. Berck, 2021. Attributing U.S. Campylobacteriosis Cases to Food Sources, Season, and Temperature, ERR-284, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

Zaki, M. and J.E. Todd, 2021. “Price Consciousness at the Peak of 'Impatience,'” Journal of Human Resources.

Todd, J.E., L. Mancino, B. Restrepo, C. Kavanaugh, C. Dicken, and V. Breneman. 2020. "Food Away From Home and Caloric Intake: The Role of Restaurant Menu Labeling Laws," Economic Inquiry.

Zeballos, E. and J.E. Todd. 2020. "The effects of skipping a meal on daily calorie intake and diet quality," Public Health Nutrition. doi:10.1017/S1368980020000683

Astill, G., F. Kuchler, J.E. Todd, and E. Page. 2020. "Why Source Labeling May Not Prevent Illnesses But Avoid Economic Loss: The Case of STEC O157:H7 and Romaine Lettuce,” American Journal of Public Health 110: 322-328.

Muth, M.K., S.A. Karns, L. Mancino, and J.E. Todd. 2019. "How Much Can Product Reformulation Improve Diet Quality among Children and Adolescents?" Nutrients 11(3): 618. doi:10.3390/nu11030618

Todd, Jessica E., Young Jo, and James Boohaker. 2018. "The Impact of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Policies on Asset Holdings," Applied Economic Perspectives and Policy.

Todd, Jessica E. and Christian Gregory. 2018. "Changes in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program real benefits and daily caloric intake among adults," Food Policy, 79: 111–118.

Todd, Jessica E.. 2017. "Changes in consumption of food away from home and intakes of energy and other nutrients among U.S. working-age adults, 2005–2014," Public Health Nutrition, 1–9. doi:10.1017/S1368980017002403

Todd, J.E. and B. Scharadin, 2016. Where Households Get Food in a Typical Week: Findings from USDA’s FoodAPS, EIB-156, U.S. Department of Agriculture, Economic Research Service.

Todd, J.E. 2015. "Revisiting the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program cycle of food intake: Investigating heterogeneity, diet quality, and a large boost in benefit amounts," Applied Economic Perspectives & Policy 37(3):437–458.

Mancino, L., J.E. Todd, J.F. Guthrie, B. Lin. 2014. "Food Away From Home and Childhood Obesity," Current Obesity Reports 3(4):459–469.

Todd, J.E. and M. Ver Ploeg. 2014. "Caloric Beverage Intake among Adult Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program Participants," American Journal of Public Health 104(9):e80–e85.

Zhen, C., E.A. Finkelstein, J. Nonnemaker, S.A. Karns, and J.E. Todd. 2014. "Predicting the effects of sugar-sweetened beverage taxes on food and beverage demand in a large demand system," American Journal of Agricultural  Economics 96(1):1–25.

Finkelstein, E.A., C. Zhen, M. Bilger, J. Nonnemaker, A.M. Farooqui, J.E. Todd. 2013. "Implications of a Sugar-Sweetened Beverage (SSB) Tax When Substitutions to Non-Beverage Items Are Considered," Journal of Health Economics 32(1):219–239.

Todd, J.E., P. Winters, and G. Stecklov. 2012. "Evaluating the Impact of the Poverty-Reduction Programs on Fertility: The Case of Red de Protección Social in Nicaragua," Journal of Population Economics 25(1):267–290.

Newman, C., J.E. Todd, and M. Ver Ploeg. 2011. "Children’s Participation in Multiple Food Assistance Programs: Changes from 1990 to 2008," Social Service Review 85(4):535–564. 

Todd, J.E. and P. Winters. 2011. "The Effect of Early Interventions in Health and Nutrition on On-time School Enrollment: Evidence from the Oportunidades Program in Rural Mexico," Economic Development and Cultural Change 59(3):549–581.

Finkelstein, E.A., C. Zhen, J. Nonnemaker, and J.E. Todd. 2010. "The Impact of Targeted Beverage Taxes on Higher and Lower Income Households," Archives of Internal Medicine 170(22):2028–2034.

Todd, J.E., P. Winters, and T. Hertz. 2010. "Conditional Cash Transfers and Agricultural Production: Lessons from the Oportunidades Experience in Mexico," Journal of Development Studies 46(1):39–67.

Mancino, L., J.E. Todd, and B. Lin. 2009. "Separating what we eat from where: Measuring the effect of food away from home on diet quality," Food Policy 34(6):557–562.

Winters, P., G. Stecklov, and J.E. Todd. 2009. "Household demography in the short run: The response of household structure to economic change in Nicaragua," Journal of Marriage and Family 71(3):208–226.