"This dissertation contains three chapters, each of which examine US household expenditures on healthy food. In the first chapter, determinants of households' expenditures on healthy food away from home (FAFH) are analyzed using the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey. For households purchasing FAFH, Cragg's double-hurdle model is used to analyze their decision to purchase healthy FAFH and the share of total FAFH expenditures to allocate to healthy FAFH. Results indicate households receiving SNAP food assistance benefits are less likely to purchase healthy FAFH when dining away from home and allocate less of their total FAFH dollars to healthy items. In contrast, the healthy FAFH participation and expenditure shares of low-income households not receiving SNAP benefits do not significantly differ from those of high-income households. Other significant findings include that healthy FAFH participation and expenditure shares vary with the healthiness of households' food at home purchases, FAFH retailer type, nutritional information and time constraints, as well as other basic demographic factors. The second chapter examines whether specific nutrients garner price premiums in fruit beverages sold in the US. Using the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey, hedonic price models for fruit juice and fruit drinks are estimated to determine whether specific nutrients, product characteristics, packaging type and acquisition characteristics are associated with price premiums. Based on the results from the hedonic price models, three generalizations are made about the price premiums for nutrients and sugar in fruit beverages: (1) all nutrients garner premium prices in fruit juice, (2) sugar and select nutrients garner price premiums in non-diet fruit drinks and (3) all nutrients and sugar are associated with price discounts in diet fruit drinks. Findings further suggest that product attributes such as brand, flavor, organic labels, diet labels and package type, and acquisition characteristics such as store type, region, season and payment type are associated with price premiums in fruit beverages. The final chapter develops a group-based food diversity index, representative of diversity in household expenditures across food subgroups. This index is compared to the traditional product code-based food diversity index and applied to reassess expenditure and demographic determinants of food diversity demand. Results confirm that the group and product code indices capture different forms of food diversity. The indices are only moderately correlated and have varying means and skewness. Education, gender, age, household size, race, SNAP and food expenditures are found to significantly affect food diversity. However, the magnitude and direction of the effects vary between group and product code indices. Given these differences, it is essential that studies select a diversity index that corresponds to their objective. Results suggest that group-based indices are appropriate for informing food and nutrition policy, while product code-based indices are ideal for guiding food industry management decision-making."--Pages ii-iii.
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