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The objective of this article is to analyze fruit and vegetable (FV) purchasing decisions between 2011–12 and 2016–17 in Chile, and FV purchases by level of education in this period as determinant to explain dietary disparities across population groups.

Using Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition, the authors analyze FV purchases over time. Taking into consideration censoring, this study uses two waves of the Family Budget Survey (national representative) by the National Statistics Institute of Chile.

The authors find that when comparing income quintiles 1–4, between 2011–12 and 2016–17, the years of education of the household head cannot explain FV purchases disparities. In contrast, in income quintile 5, between 2011–12 and 2016–17, the marginal effect of education of the household head has significantly decreased FV purchases. When analyzing social determinants, gender and income quintiles in 2016–17, they do not have a significant effect on FV purchase disparities. However, the zone of the household, metropolitan zone vs other urban zones in the country has a significant effect on FV purchase disparities.

The datasets cover food home purchases.

The authors can conclude the relevance of implementing policies and programs to lead for healthier food environments such as offer more FVs in the school feeding program and social protection nutrition sensitive measures.

Using two waves of a nationally representative dataset, this article decomposes the effect of education of the household head to explain FV purchase disparities.

Food security is an essential measure of welfare, especially for low-income families in developing countries. Policy makers should be aware of the harm food insecurity has on vulnerable households. This chapter empirically addresses the problems of measuring and monitoring food security in Mexico.

We identify the macro and micro approaches for measuring food security. The macro approach uses variables at the country level. Usually, this information is available on a yearly basis, is easy to implement, and can be compared across countries. The micro approach uses household questionnaires to collect food security information. Our analysis suggests that a macro approach will not be as precise as the micro approach due to inequality (agroclimatic, social, and economic).

Empirical experience suggests that food insecurity and its severity can be captured at the household level using the Food Insecurity Experiences Questionnaire. This questionnaire allows us to calculate food security measurements that closely follow the food security definition.

From a public policy perspective, the different methodologies for measurement do not consider all the dimensions of food security as defined by the term. This chapter examines which approach provides the best measurement of food security.