Grants & Research
Grant Opportunities for Researchers
The Cornell Center for Behavioral Economics in Child Nutrition Programs (BEN Center) is pleased to announce the release of the 2013 Request for Proposal (RFP). This is an annual award program that seeks to support research involving the applications of behavioral economics in child nutrition programs, particularly those focusing on the National School Lunch Program. University faculty, senior research associates, post-doctoral fellows or doctoral candidates (doctoral candidates must apply with their faculty advisor as a Co-PI on the proposal) interested in applying must submit a letter of intent no later than Tuesday, January 22nd, 2013. For complete details of the application and award process, please click here to download the RFP.
For a list of last years' grantees and abstracts of their research proposals see below.
Questions? Please contact us at ben@cornell.edu.
2012 Grant Recipients
- Joshua Berning - University of Connecticut.
"Hunger-driven Food Choices: An Experiment to Test the Effect of Providing Pre-lunch Snacks on School Lunch Decisions" - Kathleen Cullien - University of Southern Maine.
"Impact of Sensory Marketing Techniques on Student Fruit and Vegetable Choices during School Lunch" - Kathryn Henderson - Yale University.
"Flavored Milk in the Lunchroom: Friend or Foe?" - Deana Hildebrand - Oklahoma State University.
"Broadening Use of Choice Architecture Strategies in Middle-School Nutrition Settings and Understanding the Extent to Which Use of Strategies Impact Middle-School Students Selection of Fruits and Vegetables" - Anna McAlister - Michigan State University.
"Salience and Understanding of School Lunch Interventions Involving Pre-Commitment to Purchase Decisions" - Melayne McInnes - University of South Carolina.
"Before the Lunch Line: Behavioral Economics Interventions for Pre-Commitment and for Teacher Modeling" - Zata Vickers - University of Minnesota.
"Serving Vegetables First as a Strategy for Increasing Vegetable Consumption in an Elementary School Cafeteria" - Nancy Wells - Cornell University.
"Cafeteria Assessment for Elementary Schools (CAFES): Instrument Development"
2011 Grant Recipients
- John List, PhD, and Anya Savikhin, PhD - University of Chicago.
"Using Behavioral Economics to Improve Child Food Choice: The Impact of Informational Signals" Abstract - Alice Ammerman, Dr., PhD., and RD - University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
"Taste Texting: A Pre-Order System for Fresh and Healthy High School Lunch" Abstract - Joseph Price, PhD - Brigham Young University.
"Balancing the Tradeoffs of Different Nudges Designed to Increase Healthy Eating at School"Abstract - Helen Jensen, PhD - Iowa State University.
"Building Healthy Habits in Social Networks: Making Fruits and Vegetables a Popular Choice during the School Lunch"Abstract
Recent Research
Published Work
- Trigger Foods: The Influence of "Irrelevant" Alternatives in School Lunchrooms
- Healthy convenience: nudging students toward healthier choices in the lunchroom (Also in pdf, or full text form).
- Could Behavioral Economics Help Improve Diet Quality for Nutrition Assistance Program Participants?
- Using Behavioral Economics to Improve Meal Selection
- How descriptive food names bias sensory perceptions in restaurants
- The Name Game
- Small Steps Towards a Smarter Lunchroom: A Case Study
- When Nudging in the Lunch Line Might Be a Good Thing
Work in Progress
- A Source of Contention or Nutrition: An Assessment of Removing Flavored Milk from School Lunchrooms
- An Assessment of Tray Waste Measurement Techniques
- Attractive Names Sustain Increased Vegetable Intake in Schools
- Can Branding Improve School Lunches?
- Finger Fruits: Pre-Sliced Fruit in Schools Increases Sales, Selection, and Intake
- Healthy Convenience: Nudging Students Toward Healthier Choices in the Lunchroom
- Nudging Healthier Choices Through Nutritional Report Cards
- Pre-Ordering Systems Encourage Healthier Choices in School Lunchrooms
- School Lunch Debit Cards are Associated with Lower Nutrition and Higher Calories
- Smarter Lunchrooms: Libertarian Paternalism Can Address New School Lunchroom Guidelines and Obesity
- The Behavioral Economics of Healthier School Lunch Payment Systems
- Trigger Foods: The Influence of "Irrelevant: Alternatives in School Lunchrooms
You can also find our working papers here!