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Objectives:To assess changes in food acquisition behavior, food insecurity, and dietary behavior and identify factors associated with fruit and vegetable (FV) consumption during the transitional period (before and after the initial vaccine rollout for all adults) of the COVID-19 pandemic. Design:Successive independent samples design. Online surveys were conducted from October 2020 to February 2021 (time 1, before the vaccine rollout) and from October 2021 to December 2021 (time 2, after the vaccine rollout). Descriptive analysis examined changes in food sources, food security, and daily FV consumption in cup equivalents (CEs) from time 1 to time 2. A multivariable logistic regression analysis examined factors associated with FV consumption. Setting:The Capital Region of New York State. Participants:1553 adults 18 years of age and older. Main Outcome Measure:Meeting the 2020-2025 MyPlate daily FV consumption recommendations. Results:There were statistically significant (P< .05) increases in the use of supermarkets, eat-in restaurants, farmers’ markets, and convenience stores from time 1 to time 2. Food insecurity (40.1% vs 39.4%) and FV consumption (2.6 CE vs 2.4 CE) slightly declined but not significantly. Home food procurement such as gardening and foraging (OR, 1.61; 95% CI, 1.08-2.37) and shopping at food co-op/health food stores (OR, 1.64; 95% CI, 1.07-2.49) were significantly associated with the FV outcome, and these relationships were not modified by food security status. Conclusions:The present study highlights the importance of food sources in understanding adult dietary behavior during the transitional period of the pandemic. Continuing efforts to monitor access to food sources, food insecurity, and dietary behavior are warranted as various COVID-related emergency food assistance measures have expired. 

Abstract Agricultural and applied economists have maintained a public discourse at the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) meetings and subsequently published papers discussing the mission of land‐grant institutions and the role of AAEA members in that mission. With a content analysis of 4001 Invited Papers and Presidential Speeches, we find agricultural and applied economists questioned their profession's purpose and role within the land‐grant system. The reflective questions still apply to land‐grant institutions and the agricultural and applied economics profession. We argue that AAEA members are crucial in addressing the food and agricultural challenges connected to society's deepest needs today and into the future. 

Abstract We provide a dataset of irrigation water withdrawals by crop, county, year, and water source within the United States. We employ a framework we previously developed to establish a companion dataset to our original estimates. The main difference is that we now use the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) variable ‘irrigation — total’ to partition PCR-GLOBWB 2 hydrology model estimates, instead of ‘irrigation — crop’ as used in previous estimates. Our findings for Surface Water Withdrawals (SWW), total Groundwater Withdrawals (GWW), and nonrenewable Groundwater Depletion (GWD) are similar to those of prior estimates but now have better spatial coverage, since several states are missing from the USGS ‘irrigation — crop’ variable that was originally used. Irrigation water use increases in this study, since more states are included and ‘irrigation — total’ includes more categories of irrigation than ‘irrigation — crop’. Notably, irrigation in the Mississippi Embayment Aquifer is now captured for rice and soy. We provide nearly 2.5 million data points with this paper (3,142 counties; 13 years; 3 water sources; and 20 crops). 

Abstract Global grain trade plays a key role in food security. Many nations rely on imported grain to meet their dietary requirements. Grain imports may be at risk due to weather shocks, economic crises, or international conflicts. Countries aim to balance import risk with the expected return of their grain supplies. This research brings these dual objectives together in an innovative modern portfolio theory framework. Modern portfolio theory provides a set of concepts to formulate the trade-off between risk and expected return in national grain imports. Using Markowitz’s mean-variance optimization model, we identify opportunities to reduce risk in existing national grain import accounts, without increasing costs under realistic supply mass constraints of trade partners. Several major grain importers may be able to reduce risk in their grain imports without increasing cost, such as wheat imports in Egypt, maize imports in Vietnam, and rice imports in Saudi Arabia. However, some countries would indeed have to pay more to achieve more stable grain supplies, such as wheat imports in Turkey. This study provides a framework to quantify the different costs, benefits, and levels of risk in grain trade that can inform future research and decision-making. 

Abstract Civil infrastructure underpins urban receipts of food, energy, and water (FEW) produced in distant watersheds. In this study, we map flows of FEW goods from watersheds of the contiguous United States to major population centers and highlight the critical infrastructure that supports FEW flows. To do this, we draw upon detailed records of agriculture, electricity, and public water supply production and couple them with commodity flow and infrastructure information. We also compare the flows of virtual water embedded in food and energy commodity flows with physical water flows in inter‐basin water transfer projects around the country. We found that the virtual blue water transfers through crops and electricity to major US cities was 53 billion and 8 billion m³in 2017, respectively, while physical interbasin water transfers for crops, electricity, and public supply water averaged 20.8 billion m³. Highways are the primary infrastructure used to import virtual water associated with food and fuel into cities, although waterways and railways are most utilized for long‐distance transport. All of the 204 watersheds in the contiguous US support the food, energy, and/or water supplies of major US cities, with dependencies stretching far beyond each city's borders. Still, most cities source the majority of their FEW and embedded water resources from nearby watersheds. Infrastructure such as water supply dams and inland ports serve as important buffers for both local and supply‐chain sourced water stress. These findings can inform efforts to reduce water resources and infrastructure risks in domestic supply chains. 

Abstract Agricultural supply chains play a crucial role in supporting food security in Africa. However, high-resolution supply chain information is often not available, which hinders our ability to determine which interventions in food supply chains would most enhance food security. In this study, we develop a high-resolution supply chain model for essential staple crops in Zambia, aiming to estimate how improvements in transportation infrastructure would impact food security. Specifically, we simulate district-level monthly consumption, trade flows, and storage for maize and cassava in Zambia. We then conduct a counterfactual case study with low transportation costs, discovering that reducing transaction costs leads to higher aggregate net agricultural revenue and aggregate net expenditure. These results indicate that transportation investments are more beneficial to suppliers than to consumers, with implications for household food security in smallholder agriculture. Our study highlights the potential for infrastructure investments to improve food security. 

Abstract The United States and China are key nations in global agricultural and food trade. They share a complex bilateral agri-food trade network in which disruptions could have a global ripple effect. Yet, we do not understand the spatially resolved connections in the bilateral US–China agri-food trade. In this study, we estimate the bilateral agri-food trade between Chinese provinces and U.S. states and counties. First, we estimate bilateral imports and exports of agri-food commodities for provinces and states. Second, we model link-level connections between provinces and states/counties. To do this, we develop a novel algorithm that integrates a variety of national and international databases for the year 2017, including trade data from the US Census Bureau, the US Freight Analysis Framework database, and Multi-Regional Input-Output tables for China. We then adapt the food flow model for inter-county agri-food movements within the US to estimate bilateral trade through port counties. We estimate 2,954 and 162,922 link-level connections at the state-province and county-province resolution, respectively, and identify core nodes in the bilateral agri-food trade network. Our results provide a spatially detailed mapping of the US–China bilateral agri-food trade, which may enable future research and inform decision-makers. 

Abstract The production of food, electricity, and treated water is often tracked and managed along political or infrastructure boundaries. Yet, water resources, a critical input in the production of these goods, are delineated along natural landscape features (i.e., watersheds). The boundary mismatch between water resources and the associated production of economic goods conceals hydrologic dependencies and vulnerabilities in the provisioning of Food‐Energy‐Water (FEW) resources. In this study, we pair economic, infrastructure, and hydrologic data to evaluate the production of food, electricity, and treated water within watersheds of the conterminous United States. The US FEW sectors produced 950 million tonnes of crops, 3,973 million MWh of electricity, and supplied water to 263 million people in 2017. FEW production consumed 128 km³of blue water (18%) and 583 km³of green water (82%). Watersheds in central and southern California, the Midwest, and the Southwest have the largest FEW blue water consumption and the greatest exposure to water stress. Nearly three‐fifths of FEW production occurs in regularly water‐stressed watersheds. FEW production in watersheds in the Great Plains and Midwest relies heavily on groundwater to buffer against intra‐ and inter‐annual streamflow variability, while surface reservoir storage buffers against water shortages in all watersheds. We show where FEW production may be susceptible to curtailments due to ongoing groundwater depletion or known infrastructure deficiencies. This study adds to our understanding of how a nation's water resources and associated infrastructure support economic activity, as well as areas where economic activity is exposed to hydrological and infrastructure risks. 

Abstract Agriculture is the largest user of water in the United States. Yet, we do not understand the spatially resolved sources of irrigation water use (IWU) by crop. The goal of this study is to estimate crop‐specific IWU from surface water withdrawals (SWW), total groundwater withdrawals (GWW), and nonrenewable groundwater depletion (GWD). To do this, we employ the PCR‐GLOBWB 2 global hydrology model to partition irrigation information from the U.S. Geological Survey Water Use Database to specific crops across the Continental United States (CONUS). We incorporate high‐resolution input data on agricultural production and climate within the CONUS to obtain crop‐specific irrigation estimates for SWW, GWW, and GWD for 20 crops and crop groups from 2008 to 2020 at county spatial resolution. Over the study period, SWW decreased by 20%, while both GWW and GWD increased by 3%. On average, animal feed (alfalfa/hay) uses the most irrigation water across all water sources: 33 from SWW, 13 from GWW, and 10 km³/yr from GWD. Produce used less SWW (43%), but more GWW (57%), and GWD (27%) over the study time‐period. The largest changes in IWU for each water source between the years 2008 and 2020 are: rice (SWW decreased by 71%), sugar beets (GWW increased by 232%), and rapeseed (GWD increased by 405%). These results present the first national‐scale assessment of irrigation by crop, water source, and year. In total, we contribute nearly 2.5 million data points to the literature (3,142 counties; 13 years; 3 water sources; and 20 crops).