A healthy diet can help individuals achieve and maintain good health and reduce their risk of chronic disease throughout all stages of life. Countless foods and beverages are available for purchase, and these range in nutrient density and price. As such, a healthy diet can be achieved at many cost levels, including on a limited budget. Of the four USDA food plans that describe how much it can cost to eat a healthy diet at successively higher cost levels, the Thrifty Food Plan is the lowest cost.
Thrifty Food Plan, 2021
Through its market baskets -- weekly amounts of food and beverage categories – the Thrifty Food Plan outlines nutrient-dense foods and beverages, their amounts, and associated costs that can be purchased on a limited budget to support a healthy diet through nutritious meals and snacks at home. As directed by Congress in the 2018 Farm Bill, and for the first time since 2006, USDA reevaluated the Thrifty Food Plan to reflect updated data on food prices, food composition, and consumption patterns, and current dietary guidance in the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2020-2025.
Effective October 1, 2021, the market basket costs indicated in the Thrifty Food Plan, 2021 report will serve as the basis for the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) maximum benefit allotments.
An online supplement to the Thrifty Food Plan, 2021 report is available that provides the input data compiled exclusively for the development for the Thrifty Food Plan, 2021. These data include Modeling and Market Basket Categories and food price data that were included in the final version.
The market basket costs in the Thrifty Food Plan, 2021 report apply to the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia. USDA is reevaluating the separate Thrifty Food Plans for Alaska and Hawaii, the first time a reevaluation has occurred since the plans were created in the late 1970s. The update will be completed by December 2022. In the interim, USDA will estimate the Thrifty Food Plans for Alaska and Hawaii by applying an adjustment factor to the costs in the Thrifty Food Plan, 2021.
Additionally, at the direction of Congress, USDA is researching methods to calculate a Thrifty Food Plan applicable to Puerto Rico, where food benefits are currently provided through the Nutrition Assistance Program. Information on this effort will be published on this webpage as it becomes available.
The Thrifty Food Plan, 2021 is the first in a series of planned regular updates. As stipulated by the 2018 Farm Bill, USDA must reevaluate the Thrifty Food Plan every 5 years. Throughout the 5-year cycle to reevaluate the Thrifty Food Plan, the cost is adjusted each month to reflect inflation using the Consumer Price Index.
Publications and Resources
Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans
Reevaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan begins the process to address the three other USDA Food Plans: the Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans, which will be published on this webpage.
Publications
Questions? For technical inquires, contact: FNS.FoodPlans@usda.gov