Research

Research Focus and Statement

I have always enjoyed connecting with people through economics. I derive joy from seeing someone realize that economics, a seemingly unapproachable discipline, is imbedded in our everyday lives. This want to connect through my research is a constant guiding principle. In graduate school, I had the opportunity to work on a project using Principal Component Analysis to reduce the dimensionality of state-level food system indicators. These indicators ultimately grouped into economic, health, environment, and region components. I quickly realized that food and access to it was a topic that spanned many disciplines. I want my research to impact change, so I decided to work with the USDA’s Economic Research Service throughout my entire doctorate program. While working with top economists in the field and informing policy, I decided to pursue an active research agenda focused on the intersection of public policy, poverty, and inequality. Some of my research work was recently featured in an article by Colby College Communications team.

Peer Reviewed Publications

Ver Ploeg, Michele L, Benjamin Scharadin, Lauren Miller, Jeffrey Gonzalez, and Rodney Odom. “Utilizing the USDA’s National Household Food Acquisition and Purchasing Survey to Calculate a Household Level Food Environment Measure” (forthcoming). USDA Economic Research Service Technical Bulletin. 2023.

Scharadin, Benjamin, Chad Zanocco, and Jackie Chistolini. (2023) Food environments, extreme weather events, and their overlap: data exploration and recommendations for US Food Policy PLOS ONE. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0289282

Scharadin Benjamin. (2022) Household Food Expenditures and Diet Quality. In: Zimmermann K.F. (eds) Handbook of Labor, Human Resources and Population Economics. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-57365-6_310-1

Scharadin, Benjamin. (2022). The Efficacy of the Dependent Care Deduction at Maintaining Diet Quality. Food Policy. 107-February: 102205. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.foodpol.2021.102205.

Scharadin, Benjamin, Michele Ver Ploeg, and Chris Dicken. (2021). “Geographic Boundary Definitions and the Robustness of Common Food Retail Environment Measures.” Annals of the American Association of Geographers, November. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080 /24694452.2021.1977109.

Scharadin, Benjamin, Yu, Yang, Jaenicke, Edward. Household Time Activities, Food Waste, and Diet Quality: The Impact of Non-Marginal Changes Due to COVID-19. Review of Economics of the Household. 19, 399-428 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-021-09555-w

Scharadin, Benjamin, Jaenicke, Edward. (2020). Time Spent on Childcare and the Household Healthy Eating Index. Review of Economics of the Household. 18, 357–386. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11150-020-09482-2

Mancino, Lisa, Todd, Jessica, and Scharadin, Benjamin. (2018). USDA's National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey: Methodology for Imputing Missing Quantities To Calculate Healthy Eating Index-2010 Scores and Sort Foods Into ERS Food Groups. Technical Bulletin No. 1947 (TB-1947) 35 pp. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ. 276252

Todd, Jessica E. and Scharadin, Benjamin. (2016). Where Households Get Food in a Typical Week: Findings from USDA’s FoodAPS. Economic Information Bulletin No. (EIB-156) 33 pp. https://doi.org/10.22004/ag.econ.242450

Ver Ploeg, Michele, Mancino, Lisa, Todd, Jessica E., Clay, Dawn Marie, and Scharadin, Benjamin. (2015). Where Do Americans Usually Shop for Food and How Do They Travel to Get There? Initial Findings from the National Household Food Acquisition and Purchase Survey. Economic Information Bulletin, No. (EIB-138) 27 pp. https://www.ers.usda.gov/publications/pub-details/?pubid=79791

Manuscripts under Review

The Impact of a Household-level Food Retail Environment Health Quality Measure on Diet Quality with Michelle Ver Ploeg and Lauren Miller at the USDA Economic Research Service

Research in Progress

Potential for Racial Bias in the Food Retail Environment and the Impact on Household Diet Quality with Yixuan Wang and Jill Clark at Ohio State University and Jessica Todd, Michelle Ver Ploeg, and Lauren Miller at the USDA Economic Research Service.

Mergers and Acquisitions in the Food Retail Sector: The Impact on Food Price, Choice, and Healthfulness with Richard Volpe and Xiaowei Cai at California Polytechnic State University.

Awarded Grants

USDA Office of Administrator Strategic Priorities Grant, Davis Institute for Artificial Intelligence Course Development Grant

Conference Presentations

Agricultural and Applied Economics Association (AAEA) Virtual Organized Symposium, AAEA Annual Meeting, Northeastern Agricultural and Resource Economics Association (NAREA) Annual Meeting, Association for Public Policy Analysis & Management (APPAM). Annual Time Use Conference, Australian Agricultural and Resource Economics Society Annual Meeting.

Invited Seminars

Colby College, Franklin and Marshall College, Grinnell College, Washington and Lee College, USDA Economic Research Service, Thomas College

Journal Manuscript Reviews (Alphabetical Order)

Ecological Economics, Economics and Human Biology, Food Policy, Journal of Parenteral and Enteral Nutrition, Journal of Waste Management and Disposal, Maine Policy Review, Population Research and Policy Review, Review of Economics of the Household, AAEA Annual Meeting Abstract Reviewer.

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