Food Security Seminar Kicks Off Fall With Nayga Discussion on SNAP Purchasing Responses

The second installment of the Bumpers College Food Security Seminar Series is scheduled for this month, featuring Rodolfo Nayga. He is a professor of agricultural economics at Texas A&M University, and he will discuss food purchasing responses following unexpected SNAP benefits.

His presentation, open to all students, faculty and staff, is Friday, Aug. 28, at 3 p.m. in room 009 of the Plant Science Building. His presentation is titled "Food Purchasing Responses to an Unexpected SNAP Benefit Distribution: Evidence From a U.S. Government Shutdown."

Nayga's research interests include the economics of food valuation, consumption, policy and health. From 2021-25, he served as head of Texas A&M's Department of Agricultural Economics. 

Before going to Texas A&M in 2021, Nayga was Distinguished Professor and Tyson Endowed Chair in Food Policy Economics at the U of A, where his research on poverty, nutrition, obesity and novel food technologies won worldwide recognition. He received the Southeastern Conference Faculty Achievement Award in 2016. 

He was also a faculty member at Rutgers University and Massey University in New Zealand. He has been a Fulbright Senior Scholar at Wageningen University in the Netherlands, an adjunct professor at Korea University and the Norwegian Institute for Bio-economy Research, an NBER research economist and a senior research fellow of the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study in Tokyo. He was also a member of the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University Belfast.

Nayga has served on the International Scientific Advisory Board of the Institute for Global Food Security at Queen's University Belfast. He is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) and the Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA).

Brandon McFadden, professor in the Department of Agricultural Economics and Agribusiness and holder of the Tyson Endowed Chair in Food Policy Economics, is coordinating the series hosted by the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences.

"Dr. Nayga is one of the world's leading scholars in food and consumer economics, and we are especially pleased to welcome him back to the University of Arkansas, where his scholarship and leadership left a lasting impact," McFadden said. "The Food Security Seminar Series brings leading researchers to campus to share timely, policy-relevant work and offers students, faculty and staff opportunities to engage in meaningful conversations about food insecurity and the economic, social and policy issues that shape it."

Craig Gundersen was the first featured speaker for the series last spring. He is the Snee Family Endowed Chair holder and a professor in the Department of Economics at Baylor University, and creator of Feeding America's Map the Meal Gap project, the standard tool for mapping food insecurity in the U.S. His presentation was "Addressing Food Insecurity in Arkansas."

About the Dale Bumpers College of Agricultural, Food and Life Sciences: Bumpers College provides life-changing opportunities to position and prepare graduates who will be leaders in the businesses associated with foods, family, the environment, agriculture, sustainability and human quality of life; and who will be first-choice candidates of employers looking for leaders, innovators, policy makers and entrepreneurs. The college is named for Dale Bumpers, former Arkansas governor and longtime U.S. senator who made the state prominent in national and international agriculture. For more information about Bumpers College, visit our website, and follow us on Twitter at @BumpersCollege and Instagram at BumpersCollege.

About the University of Arkansas: As Arkansas' flagship institution, the U of A provides an internationally competitive education in more than 200 academic programs. Founded in 1871, the U of A contributes more than $2.2 billion to Arkansas' economy through the teaching of new knowledge and skills, entrepreneurship and job development, discovery through research and creative activity while also providing training for professional disciplines. The Carnegie Foundation classifies the U of A among the few U.S. colleges and universities with the highest level of research activity. U.S. News & World Report ranks the U of A among the top public universities in the nation. See how the U of A works to build a better world at Arkansas Research and Economic Development News.