How Distorted Food Prices Discourage a
Healthy Diet
Roberto
Pancrazi, Thijs van Rens and Marija Vukotic
Abstract
Public policy making for the prevention of
diet-related disease is impeded by a lack of evidence on whether poor diets are
a matter of personal responsibility or a choice set narrowed by environmental
conditions. An important element of the environment is market imperfections in
food retail that distort prices. We use a rich dataset on quantities and prices
of food purchases in the United States and a structural model of dietary
choices to examine variation in diets across households that have different
levels of income and live in different neighborhoods. We find that price
distortions account for one-third of the gap between the recommended and actual
intake of fruits and vegetables. A feasible fiscal intervention that remedies
these distortions makes all consumers better off.
Published (March 2022): Science Advances,
8(13), https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/sciadv.abi8807
First draft: February 2020
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