In Bangladesh, rice prices are known to be positively associated with the prevalence of child underweight and inversely associated with household nongrain food expenditures, an indicator of dietary quality. The collection of reliable data on household expenditures is relatively time consuming and requires extensive training. Simple dietary diversity scores are increasingly used as measures of food security and as proxies for nutrient adequacy. This study examines associations between a simple dietary diversity score and commonly used indicators of socioeconomic status in Bangladesh. Data representative of rural Bangladesh was collected from 188,835 households over 18 rounds of bi-monthly data collection from 2003-2005. A simple household dietary diversity score was developed by summing the number of days each household consumed an item from each of 7 food groups over a 7-d period. The dietary diversity score was associated with per capita nongrain food expenditures (r = 0.415), total food expenditures (r = 0.327), and total household expenditures (r = 0.332) using Spearman correlations (all P < 0.0001). The frequency of meat and egg consumption showed greater variation across quintiles of total monthly expenditure than other items contributing to the dietary diversity score. After controlling for other measures of socioeconomic status in multiple linear regression models, the dietary diversity score was significantly associated with monthly per capita food and total expenditures. Low dietary diversity during the period prior to major food price increases indicates potential risk for worsening of micronutrient deficiencies and child malnutrition in Bangladesh.

Given its nutrient profile and widespread availability in certain contexts, fish could be an underutilized opportunity to improve nutrition and health outcomes of infants and young children. Further research, including utilizing food processing technologies, is needed to develop appropriate responses to overcome these barriers.

Objective: To explore the effect of seasonality on fruit and vegetable availability and prices across three outlet types (farmers' markets, roadside stands and conventional supermarkets). Design: Cross-sectional survey of geographically clustered supermarkets, farmers' markets and roadside stands. Enumerators recorded the availability and lowest price for eleven fruits and eighteen vegetables in each season of 2011. Setting: Price data were collected at retail outlets located in central and eastern North Carolina. Subjects: The sample consisted of thirty-three supermarkets, thirty-four farmers' markets and twenty-three roadside stands. Results: Outside the local harvest season, the availability of many fruits and vegetables was substantially lower at farmers' markets and roadside stands compared with supermarkets. Given sufficient availability, some items were significantly cheaper (P < 0·05) at direct retail outlets in the peak season (e.g. cantaloupe cost 36·0 % less at roadside stands than supermarkets), while others were significantly more expensive (e.g. carrots cost 137·9 % more at farmers' markets than supermarkets). Although small samples limited statistical power in many non-peak comparisons, these results also showed some differences by item: two-thirds of fruits were cheaper at one or both direct outlets in the spring and autumn, whereas five of eighteen vegetables cost more at direct retail year-round. Conclusions: Commonly consumed fruits and vegetables were more widely available at supermarkets in central and eastern North Carolina than at direct retail outlets, in each season. Contingent on item availability, price competitiveness of the direct retail outlets varied by fruit and vegetable. For many items, the outlets compete on price in more than one season.

Whether direct farmer‐to‐consumer outlets compete with supermarkets on produce prices remains an empirical question; marketing costs are not consistently higher in one retail channel or the other. This study compared prices of 29 fruits and vegetables across North Carolina farmers’ markets, roadside stands, and supermarkets. Larger farmers’ markets had higher prices: three fruits and one vegetable were cheaper at a direct outlet, while four vegetables were cheaper at supermarkets. Weighting item prices by consumption share attenuated differences in mean price across outlets. Direct‐retail outlets are price competitive and should be considered among other tools to boost fresh fruit and vegetable intake.

High food prices are expected to have detrimental impacts on the dietary intake of vulnerable populations around the world, exacerbating malnutrition and poor health. Prior to the onset of the price rises, 53 million individuals in Latin America already lacked sufficient daily energy intake, and the rates of anaemia and high child stunting suggest widespread vitamin and mineral deficiencies. Where households cope with high prices by eliminating more expensive, nutrient-dense foods from their diets, the prevalence of micronutrient deficiencies will increase, especially among those with the highest nutrient needs: pregnant and lactating women, young children and the chronically ill. Unaddressed, food price increases will stunt the growth and development of a generation. This paper reviews market-based and non-market-based options for augmenting the emergency nutrition safety net in Latin American and Caribbean nations. Because the region has the unique advantage of numerous established conditional cash transfer programmes enabled by political stability and well-functioning market economies, much focus is given to their strengths, weaknesses and potential to mitigate the effects of high food prices. Yet, as these programmes sometimes fail to target the urban poor or reach marginalized rural communities that lack access to infrastructure and markets, food-based interventions remain indispensable for restoring micronutrient and health status across the region. Contextual factors, including the specific nutrient deficiencies of concern and the condition of and access to infrastructure and markets, should inform the combination of interventions selected.