This study examines the various factors affecting household expenditures on fresh and processed fruit and vegetables in the U.S. using the 1992 Consumer Expenditure Survey. Empirical results suggest that higher income, better educated, larger, and older households spend more on fresh and processed fruit and vegetables than do other households. Seasonal and regional variations are also evident.

NAFTA and GATT will dramatically alter regulations protecting U.S. peanut markets and will allow foreign producers considerable access to domestic market. Traditionally, the political economy surrounding peanut policy has been favorable to domestic producers. Rising peanut butter imports, decreasing domestic demand, and possibly the inadvertent effects of domestic policy, ironically implemented to protect domestic producers, have contributed to significant increases in Treasury costs. These increased Treasury costs have dramatically changed the political climate surrounding the peanut program. In this light, the effects of GATT appear manageable; NAFTA may ultimately require major policy reform. Possible alternatives are presented.

This study demonstrates how contingent valuation techniques can be used in a cost-benefit analysis of a food safety policy issue. The analysis focuses on banning a specific postharvest pesticide used in fresh grapefruit packinghouses. Benefits of the ban are measured using consumers' aggregated willingness to pay (WTP) for safer grapefruit. A national contingent valuation survey used the payment card method to obtain WTP data. Costs of the ban stem predominantly from increased postharvest losses and were estimated using a model of the market for Florida grapefruit. Results indicate that benefits of the ban outweigh costs.

Search theory is used to present a theoretically defensible model to examine the effectiveness of use value assessment (UVA) in preserving farmland. The model is empirically tractable and supports the findings of past research. The analysis considers the impact of farm income, uncertainty, and the distribution of the offer price on the effectiveness of UVA in preserving farmland and shows, through the effect on the reservation price, that for a given distribution of the offer price, property-tax rate, and the difference between market-value and use-value of land, the preservation of agricultural land only takes place within a relevant range.

This study provides an empirical investigation of how consumers rate meat attributes. Results show an importance order for 12 selected meat attributes and reveal some relationships between the importance ratings and consumer's demographic or socioeconomic characteristics. The findings suggest that (1) the meat marketing strategy should focus on freshness, taste, and appearance; (2) nutritional attributes have become important factors in the meat purchasing decision of female, educated, and married consumers; (3) older, married, low-income, or non-white consumers still remain price conscious; and (4) USDA label has become an important symbol of meat quality and safety to older, female, Baptist, and high-income consumers.

This study measures the impacts of use of nutrition information and household socioeconomic characteristics on market participation and amount purchased of whole-fat and low-fat milks in the South. Data are from the 1987-88 Nationwide Food Consumption Survey. The results showed that use of nutrition information had little effect on purchase levels, but did affect market participation. Results suggest promotion of milk purchases on the basis of nutritional benefits through health professionals and product packaging are useful tools for the dairy industry to attract market participation.

The paper tests two alternative specifications for the opportunity cost of time in travel cost models. The standard travel cost survey design is enriched to include a contingent valuation type question about peoples' willingness to accept compensation to forgo a precisely defined recreational experience. It is hypothesized that individually revealed value of time more appropriately reflects the opportunity costs of time associated with a particular aspect of recreation than the wage rate which measures the trade-off between work and leisure generally. The results seem to indicate a better overall fit for the models with the elicited value of individual consumer's time than for the models with the more traditional hourly earnings (wage rates). The importance of the correct measurement of the opportunity cost time is illustrated by showing that estimated consumer surpluses based on two different value of time measurements differ significantly.

Previous studies of historical risk have used either nominal or real data to calculate risk measures for agricultural prices and income. However, the effects of using nominal and real data have not been evaluated. This study utilizes theoretical variance approximation relationships to examine variances from detrended real and nominal time series. The relationships between variances are derived for quarterly U.S. farm milk prices for 1960-72, 1973-80, and 1981-90. Contrary to common intuitive arguments, results indicate that variances of real time series can be larger than variances of nominal series. While definitive conclusions are not possible, several reasons for using nominal data in risk analysis are given.