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Thrifty Food Plan


Economics is USDA’s Helping Science

December 01, 2021 Spiro Stefanou, ERS Administrator

At USDA, economics is a helping science. Two recent contributions of USDA’s Economic Research Service (ERS) highlight how economic research help USDA form policies.

Research and Science

Thrifty Food Plan Re-evaluation Puts Nutrition in Reach for SNAP Participants

August 30, 2021 Stacy Dean, Deputy Under Secretary, Food, Nutrition, and Consumer Services

More than 42 million of our neighbors rely on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) to feed their families. USDA recently re-evaluated the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), used to set SNAP benefits, which increased the purchasing power of the plan by 21% for the first time since it was...

Coronavirus Equity Food and Nutrition

The Thrifty Food Plan: What It Is and Why It Matters

August 12, 2021 Food and Nutrition Service Public Affairs

At the direction of Congress and with the support of President Biden as part of the administration’s Build Back Better initiative, USDA is re-evaluating the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) to ensure that it reflects the cost of a practical, nutritious, budget-conscious diet. The re-evaluation is based on...

Food and Nutrition

You Spoke, We Listened: The Challenges of Purchasing Healthy Food with SNAP Benefits

August 09, 2021 Rich Lucas, Deputy Administrator for Office of Policy Support, Food and Nutrition Service

As directed by Congress in 2018, USDA is re-evaluating the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP)—the estimated cost of an affordable, nutritious diet. The TFP is used to calculate SNAP benefit levels. To complement the re-evaluation efforts and gather insights from those who will be impacted by the result, USDA...

Equity Food and Nutrition

What Does It Cost to Raise a Child?

August 14, 2013 Kevin Concannon, Under Secretary for Food, Nutrition and Consumer Services

How much will that little bundle of joy cost? According to USDA’s Cost of Raising a Child report, the answer for a child born in 2012 is $241,080 for food, shelter and other necessities over the next 17 years, which translates to about $301,970 when adjusted for inflation! Speaking as a father and a...

Initiatives Food and Nutrition
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