Consumer behavior responses to SNAP benefits (i.e. food stamps) is a popular research topic for applied economists. And hypotheses about the impact of limiting SNAP benefit spending on junk food makes for an engaging conversation topic (over cookies and beer) at our department's happy hour.
Then comes the juxtaposition: The associate professor advisor has a large grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the impact of SNAP benefits in Minnesota. His advisee, a graduate student on department funding to work on this project as a research assistant (which is, according to the department, enough funding to cover the full cost of attending graduate school), is a SNAP recipient. Not in an ironic way.
Then comes the juxtaposition: The associate professor advisor has a large grant from the National Institutes of Health to study the impact of SNAP benefits in Minnesota. His advisee, a graduate student on department funding to work on this project as a research assistant (which is, according to the department, enough funding to cover the full cost of attending graduate school), is a SNAP recipient. Not in an ironic way.