Food Insecurity in the U . S . : Measurement and Evaluation by Angela N

Most food insecurity research within the United States has focused on the headcount ratio of food insecurity, whic is, the percentage of households that are considered food insecure. Although this measure is important, using this measure alone, ignores the variation within the food hardship being experienced by U.S. households. In 2008, Dr. Craig Gundersen translated the Foster-Greer-Thorbecke income poverty index to measure the extent, depth, and severity of food insecurity. Within chapter 1 of this paper, I use the income poverty index literature to define axioms that an appropriate food insecurity index would need to satisfy in order to accurately measure the depth of food insecurity. I translate income poverty indices from Kakwani, Chakravarty, and Watts and then evaluate how these indices as well as the one proposed by Dr. Gundersen measure food insecurity within the U.S.. Within chapter 2, I use the food insecurity index proposed by Dr. Gundersen to evaluate how Broad Based Categorical Eligibility, a change in SNAP eligibility policy affected U.S. food insecurity between 2001 and 2013.