U.S. Resident Support for More/Less Spending on USDA Budget Categories

Jinho Jung, Post-Doctoral Research Associate, Purdue University, Department of Agricultural Economics

The Center for Food Demand Analysis and Sustainability (CFDAS)’s Consumer Food Insights work by Dr. Jayson L. Lusk and Samuel Polzin has delved into where Americans stand on some hotly-debated food policies, including the expansion of SNAP benefits and fast food zoning laws, but a critical aspect of food policy often overlooked in popular media is the Farm Bill. In anticipation of the 2023 reauthorization of the Farm Bill, U.S. residents were asked about their support for spending more or less on each of a variety of United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) budget categories, including:

            – Food Safety and Inspection

            – Food Assistance

            – Natural Resources and Environment

            – Research and Education

            – Farm Support

            – Rural Development

The majority of respondents reported food safety and inspection as the most important category and believe the government should spend more on this area. U.S. consumers showed more support (in the form of reporting desires to spend more) for food assistance such as SNAP, WIC and school lunch programs than they did for other categories, with the exception of food safety and inspection.

ConsumerCorner.2022.Letter.25