I am a Professor at Tufts University, in the Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy with a secondary appointment in the Department of Economics.
Timeline of links below summarize recent work. You can also keep scrolling down or jump to archived news and media, publications and presentations, or click out to google for what I have written and where I work, or visit my Friedman School page and teaching blog.
Recent publications (open access or link to preprint)
- Mar 2019 review article “Beyond calories: The new economics of nutrition”, for ARRE
- Feb 2019 chapter on agriculture for improved nutrition, for CABI-IFPRI book
- Oct 2018 article on contest incentives to improve child nutrition, in JDE
- Aug 2018 article on price indexes for cost of nutritious diets, in AJAE
- Aug 2018 article on nutrition knowledge, in Maternal and Child Nutrition [preprint]
- July 2018 article on age misreporting and child heights, in Demography
- Apr 2018 article on women’s education and micronutrient deficiencies in BMC Public Health
- Jan 2018 article on contest design and proportional incentives in JEBO [preprint]
- Jan 2018 article on costs & impacts of food interventions in Health Policy & Planning
- Dec 2017 article on ag & nutrition transition, forthcoming in J. of Development Studies
- Oct 2017 article on priority interventions for S. Asia & Africa in Mat & Child Nutrition
- Aug 2017 article on incentives to improve childcare services in J. of Health Economics
- June 2017 report for the World Bank on groundnut policy in Senegal
- May 2017 technical note for FAO on measuring the cost of nutritious diets
- Feb 2017 book chapter on private-sector land development in Africa
- Jan 2017 article on nutrition smoothing in PLOS ONE
- Dec 2016 article on nutrient testing of infant foods in Mat & Child Nutrition [reprint]
Recent news and media
- Feb 2019 Feeding a Hungry Planet free online course from SDG Academy & edX
- Aug 2018 FoodEcon post about pre-publication secrecy
- July 2018 FoodEcon post on how I limit my academic spam
- June 2018 Boston Globe on recyclable packaging vs. not needing in the first place
- Feb 2018 video (7 min.) from Global Food+ speed talk on infant foods
- Jan 2018 Boston Globe on supply chain failures at Whole Foods
- Oct 2017 Marketplace radio on decline in ‘diet’ soda and rise of healthier eating habits
- Sept 2017 video (~1 hr) of Johns Hopkins SAIS seminar on agriculture & nutrition in Africa
- Aug 2017 Boston Globe and WBZ television on how Amazon will change Whole Foods
- June 2017 Econofact post about temporary, fraud-resistant nature of SNAP
- June 2017 Agrilinks post about agriculture’s impacts on poverty, nutrition and resilience
- May 2017 Boston Globe story about the vanilla price spike and cyclone Enawo
- Apr 2017 Econofact post about child orientation of SNAP and the 2018 Farm Bill
- Apr 2017 video, slides, & paper on impacts of ag research for USAID webinar
- Dec 2016 NYTimes report on infant foods in Maternal & Child Nutrition [preprint]
Upcoming & recent presentations
- Apr 2019: Talk on food system governance, at Purdue EGH event
- Apr 2019: Slides for teaching with technology award at Tufts
- Feb 2019: Discussion on research ethics [framing ppt, pdf], with PhD students at Tufts
- Dec 2018: Seminar on cost of nutritious diets, at IFPRI
- Oct. 2018: Paper on infants’ first foods [+slides] presented by Samira Choudhury at NEUDC
- Oct. 2018: Presentation on diet transformation [in pdf] for public BIFAD meeting at World Food Prize week
- Oct. 2018: Birthdates and height-for-age speed talk [+paper] at Tufts nutrition data summit
- July 2018 ICAE slides – links to session info:
- speed & timing of nutrition transition, at PIM workshop
- price indexes for cost of nutritious diets, at ARENA workshop
- ag-nutrition linkages, in session on agriculture for the SDGs
- caregiver incentives, in session on nutrition
- hermetic storage, in session on food security
- June 2018 ICABR talks on nutrition knowledge [slides] and on fortified infant cereals [slides]
- June 2018 ANH Academy Learning Lab on prices indexes for nutritious foods [description, slides]
- June 2018 ANH Academy Learning Lab on econ for agri-health researchers [description, slides, video]
- June 2018 students at ASN – links to session info:
- Yan Bai on cost of nutritious diets [slides]
- Kate Schneider on nutrition knowledge [poster]
- Gloria Guevara on demand for hermetic bags [poster]
- Jifan Wang on diet quality measurement [poster]
- May 2018 slides for DFID on cost of nutritious diets
- Feb 2018 slides + video (7 min) speed talk on infant foods from Global Food+
- Jan 2018 slides + paper on cost of nutritious diets for ASSA
- Nov 2017 slides on caregiver incentives for World Bank seminar on JHE paper
- Oct 2017 slides on IMMANA Fellowships & cost of nutritious diets for IUNS ICN
- Oct 2017 lecture on agricultural development: a global, long-term perspective
- Sept 2017 slides on nutrition transition & agricultural change in Africa at SAIS and USAID
- Sept 2017 slides for IFPRI talk on child diet diversity, and UPenn talk on childcare incentives
- July 2017 AAEA slides on child diets, ag research, nutrition smoothing and errors in child age
- July 2017 video of ANH Academy Learning Lab on economics for agri-health researchers (all slides: 87MB!)
- Apr 2017 slides, paper & video on impacts of ag research for USAID webinar
- Apr 2017 paper on incentives for child caregivers at Tufts economics faculty seminar
- Nov 2016 comments on NEPR radio about the food policy ballot question in MA
- Oct 2016 analysis on WBUR.org about the food policy ballot question in MA
- June 2016 results of FSIN TWG: User’s guide to indicators of food & nutrition security
- Apr 2016 video on dietary transition and urbanization
- Feb 2016 video of Friedman seminar on nutritional quality of infant foods
- Jan 2016 article + explainer about restaurant portion size in the US (+other news coverage)
- May 2015 video made by MIT students on urban and peri-urban farming near Boston
- Mar 2015 launch of the FSIN working group on measuring food & nutrition security
- Feb 2015 webinar for SPRING on integrated agriculture-nutrition interventions
- Nov 2014 video for AgriLInks on urbanization and smallholders
- Aug 2014 blog quote from IFPRI for AAEA publication of enduring quality award
- July 2014 blog post for AgResults on incentives for agricultural innovation
- May 2014 radio quote on Marketplace about staple crops and superfoods
- Sept 2013 report from UN SDSN on sustainable agriculture and food systems
- Aug 2013 Bruce Gardner Memorial Prize from AAEA ($1500 award went here)
- Apr 2013 news quote in Chronicle of Higher Ed on nutrition assistance programs
- Mar 2013 hyperinflation vacation in The Atlantic, with my Zimbabwe wall of shame
- May 2012 blog quote on the Freakonomics blog on food miles v. carbon pricing
- Apr 2011 interview on Radio Australia about the world food crisis
- Jan 2011 article in Tufts Journal (and Tufts Nutrition magazine) about child nutrition
- Oct 2010 Nutrition CRSP launch, nicely described in the Tufts Daily
- May 2010 blog post at Freakonomics about my farewell talk at Purdue
- Apr. 2010 blog post for Project Syndicate with optimism about Africa
- Jun. 2009 econo-doggerel at Freakonomics (reprinted in When to Rob a Bank)
Older articles and working papers
- Sept 2016 working paper on dietary change for Global Panel Foresight Project
- Sept 2016 chapter on economic causes of malnutrition for Good Nutrition book
- Aug 2016 article on climate and child height in Economics & Human Biology [open access]
- July 2016 article on agriculture and nutrition transition in Agricultural Economics [preprint]
- July 2016 chapter on land use for festschrift in honor of Hans Binswanger-Mkhize
- June 2016 technical assessment and user’s guide to indicators of food security and nutrition
- Jan 2016 article in JAND about restaurant portion size in the US (+news coverage)
- June 2015 article in Food Security on urbanization and rural malnutrition [open access]
- Mar 2015 FASEB abstracts on rural isolation and health outcomes, self-weighing and weight loss, and nutritional composition of infant foods
- Feb 2015 article in Food Security on agricultural policy for improved nutrition [preprint]
- Aug 2014 3rd ed. of textbook on Economics of Agricultural Development is out (at your local bookshop, online or request an exam copy)
- Apr 2014 article in Journal of Economic Growth on agriculture and urbanization [preprint]
- Apr 2014 article in Journal of Development Economics on disease and development in Burkina Faso [preprint]
- Apr 2014 article in African J. of Ag. and Resource Economics on Malawi’s input subsidy program [PDF]
- Feb 2014 article for Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences on ag., nutrition & health in global development [preprint]
- Oct 2013 SSRN working paper on theory vs. experimental results in prize contests
- Sept 2013 GAIN report on improving nutritional value chain for peanut products in Ghana
- Sept 2013 GFS article on urbanization & farm size in Asia and Africa [preprint]
- July 2013 NBER working paper on disease control, demography and development in Burkina Faso
- Jan 2013 Japanese edition of our Econ of Ag Development textbook
- Jan 2013 book chapter on child nutrition in economic development
- Oct 2012 article in Journal of Development Studies on child nutrition and poverty reduction
- May 2012 chapter on Transformational Incentives in USAID’s Frontiers in Development book and conference; with related CGD paper by Kim Elliott
- May 2011 Chicago Council Progress Report on U.S. Leadership in Global Ag Development (see press release and some commentary)
- Feb 2011 IGC working paper and policy brief on quality certification of infant foods in Ghana
- July 2010 chapter on development and policy for Lusk, Roosen and Shogren’s Oxford Handbook on the Economics of Food Consumption and Policy
- June 2010 article in Journal of Public Economics on proportional vs. winner-take-all contests [preprint]
- June 2010 article in Economics and Human Biology on underweight children in developing countries [preprint]
- Mar. 2009 World Bank book on Distortions to Agricultural Incentives in Africa
- Nov 2016 slides on structural change for FAO workshop on nutrition and trade
- Nov 2016 slides on cost of dietary diversity for FAO workshop on nutrition and trade
- Nov 2016 slides for Clark University seminar on infant foods
- Nov 2016 slides for NEUDC on caregiver incentives in India (+ discussant slides)
- Aug 2016 slides for AAEA panel on agricultural transformation in Africa
- June 2016 slides and FSIN Users Guide to indicators of malnutrition for the ANH Academy
- Apr 2016 slides + video for Tufts research day on diets, urbanization and the race against Malthus
- Feb 2016 slides for Harvard Weatherhead seminar on sustainable food & farming
- Feb 2016 video and slides (in pdf) of Friedman seminar on premixed complementary foods
- Nov 2015 presentation for Rome-Based Agencies joint technical workshop on SDG2
- Oct 2015 presentation for BIFAD side event at World Food Prize Borlaug Dialogue
- Oct 2015 presentation at Rutgers University joint agriculture-nutrition seminar
- Aug 2015 ICAE plenary presentation on nutrition transition and agricultural transformation
- Aug 2015 ICAE presentations on ag-nutrition linkages and aligning agriculture and nutrition
- Aug 2015 ICAE presentation on nutritional quality of packaged complementary foods
- Aug 2015 ICAE poster on smoothing of seasonal malnutrition in DRC
- Aug 2015 ICAE presentation on investment in farmland with Derek Byerlee and Dan Robinson
- Mar 2015 paper for World Bank conference on investment in farmland with Derek Byerlee and Dan Robinson
- Feb 2015 recorded webinar for SPRING on integration of agricultural and nutritional interventions
- Dec 2014 talk at IEG-IFPRI conference in New Delhi on rural children’s nutrition in India vs. Africa & the rest
- Dec 2014 talk at Delhi School of Economics on market access and farm nutrition [+paper]
- Nov 2014 slides for Fletcher Food Policy Group on agricultural transformation in Africa
- Oct 2014 talk at Gates Grand Challenges meeting on aligning agriculture and nutrition
- Sept 2o14 talk at IFPRI on market access as a source of resilience and nutrition security
- July 2014 talk at USAID on urbanization and smallholder farmers in Africa
- July 2014 talk at AAEA on global nutrition trends
- June 2014 talk on quality certification logos for GAIN multi-nutrient supplements initiative at NYAS
- May 2014 posters on complementary foods and peanut-based products for Micronutrient Forum in Addis Ababa
- May 2014 new slides and handout for NCFAR Capitol Hill seminars on agricultural development [+favorite slides #1 and #2]
- Mar 2014 updated slides on agriculture-nutrition linkages for HSPH course in global health
- Mar 2014 updated slides on global malnutrition at MIT Knight science journalism food boot camp
- Nov 2013 presentation slides for Tufts Medical School seminar on infant food quality
- Aug 2013 AAEA presentations on global malnutrition and agriculture-nutrition linkages
- June 2013 poster describing new project on marketed complementary foods (+high-res version)
- June 2013 slides (or PDF) on nutritional quality of marketed complementary food for A4NH workshop
- Mar 2013 changing face of malnutrition talk at MIT Knight science journalism food boot camp
- Oct 2012 slides for APHA on infant feeding in developing countries
- Sep. 2012 slides for Maggie McMillan’s Econ 136 on disease, demography and development
- Aug. 2012 presentations at the AAEA meetings on infant feeding, African development and foreign assistance
- Apr 2012 workshop on Food Wars in Africa? at the Harvard International Development Conference
- Mar 2012 discussion of Africa’s turnaround at MIT Knight Fellows’ Food Boot Camp [+ book chapter]
- Mar 2012 talk on Proportional Prizes at NC-1034 meeting, Washington DC [+ new paper]
- Feb 2012 talk on Africa’s Last Famine? at the Radcliffe Gym (event site) [Video]
- Jan 2012 talk on food security at the Northwestern University human rights conference
- Jan 2012 symposium on malnutrition at the NCSE conference in Washington, DC.
- Oct 2011 talk on Africa’s turnaround (+book chapter) at the African Economic Conference in Addis
- Oct 2011 talk on food prices and nutrition at McGill conference on food security (program here)
- Sep 2011 Seminar on infant foods at Harvard School of Public Health (streaming video, slides with photos (huge file, 48MB !)
- Aug 2011 NBER African Successes conference paper, slides and presentation on Africa’s turnaround
- July 2011 Nutrition CRSP implementation workshop in Kampala (photos)
- June 2011 Nutrition CRSP launch workshop in Kampala (see photos)
- May 2011 Tufts research day on sustainability (see new slides and book chapter)
- Apr 2011 Stanford symposium on poverty in Africa — discussant for Chris Barrett seminar (my bit starts around 70 minutes into the streaming video)
- Mar 2011 paper + slides on Africa’s turnaround, for the Harambe Entrepreneur Alliance and Harvard African Development Conference
- Feb 2011 webcast + slides on world food crises, for Friedman School online seminar
- Feb 2011 streaming video of presentations at the IFPRI 2020 conference in New Delhi on the Nutrition CRSP (5 min.) and on the economics of infant feeding (10 min.)
- Dec 2010 talk on Africa’s turnaround, in French as Le moment africain (ppt slides and mp3 audio, from SFER)
- Dec 2010 talk on asymmetric information in agriculture at NSF-ICG-AERC workshop in Mombasa
- Nov 2010 talk on remedies for asymmetric information in food and agriculture at Tufts economics department
- Nov 2010 talks on undernutrition for the Friedman Symposium and the Board of Overseers
- Nov. 2009 talk at the AfDB African Economic Conference on incentives for innovation
- Oct. 2009 talk at the ADA Food and Nutrition Conference on world food markets