Academic focus: Transforming our food systems to support the health of people and the planet
Research summary: I study the costs, benefits and tradeoffs involved in policies aimed at transforming food systems to support healthy and sustainable diets. This involves complex modeling using data from the U.S. or from countries around the world, rigorous data on the actual costs of various policy interventions (like cutting food loss and waste through improved storage technologies, supporting school meals through procurement from local farms, or increasing the purchasing power of low-income families). I also pursue research on how to enhance the nutritional impact of emergency food aid, how to better measure the quality of policy implementation in low-income countries (improved governance) and how to support greater resilience of communities impacted by extreme weather or financial shocks.
