IRP RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research

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[Page Contents: About | Visiting Scholars | Subscribe to IRPRIDGE Listserv | Resources]

About the IRP RIDGE Center

In January 2010, the Food Assistance and Nutrition Research Program (FANRP) of USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) named IRP the RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research following a nationwide competition. As the new RIDGE (Research Innovation and Development Grants in Economics) Center, IRP will serve as a national hub for sponsoring new, innovative research related to such programs as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (food stamps); Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); the National School Lunch Program; and the School Breakfast Program; and as a center for training and mentoring scholars.

ERS also established a second research hub, the RIDGE Center for Targeted Food and Nutrition Assistance Research, at the Southern Rural Development Center (SRDC), Mississippi State University (MSU), as part of this restructuring and consolidation of the former RIDGE Program, which was administered by five institutions, including IRP, from 1999–2009. The SRDC center will support food and nutrition assistance research directed at specific populations, including rural residents, Native Americans, and immigrants.

By establishing the RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research, IRP continues its long tradition of conducting policy-relevant research, training and mentoring the next generation of poverty scholars, and broadly disseminating its findings, with a renewed emphasis on food assistance research.

Visiting Food Assistance Scholars

Each year, the Institute for Research on Poverty (IRP) invites applications from U.S.-based food assistance scholars to visit the IRP\RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research for one to two weeks during the academic year, interact with its faculty in residence, and become acquainted with the staff and resources of the Institute.

The intent of the IRP Research, Innovation, and Development Grants in Economics (RIDGE) Center is to stimulate innovative research related to food assistance programs such as SNAP (formerly food stamps) and school breakfast and lunch, and to support training of researchers interested in food assistance issues.

Visits of one to two weeks’ duration can be supported during either fall or spring semester of the academic year. The scholars will be invited to give a seminar, to work on their own projects, and to confer with IRP faculty affiliates. Transportation, lodging, and meal expenses will be covered by IRP.

View the pdf version of the 2010-2011 Call for Visiting Food Assistance Scholar Applications.

Subscribe to the IRP RIDGE Listserv

Periodic notification of food assistance research grant opportunities, calls for visiting scholar applications, and links to new research findings. Send an e-mail to: irpridge-request@ssc.wisc.edu, indicate in the subject line "subscribe" or "unsubscribe".

Resources

Related IRP Resources

• Funded Proposals under 1999–2009 IRP-USDA RIDGE Program

From 1999–2009, prior to being named the RIDGE Center for National Food and Nutrition Assistance Research, IRP was one of five institutions to sponsor research for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. The intent of IRP’s program was to stimulate new areas of interest in research on food insecurity and food assistance programs, such as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP, formerly Food Stamps), the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children (WIC), and the Child and Adult Care Food Program.

2008-2009  |  2007-2008  |  2006-2007  |  2005-2006  |  2004-2005  |  2003-2004  |  2002-2003  |  2001-2002  |  2000-2001

• Nutrition, Food Assistance, & Poverty

External Links

• USDA/ERS RIDGE Web Site
• National Database of RIDGE Project Summaries
• RIDGE Center for Targeted Studies, SRDC, Mississippi State University