FNS Documents & Resources

The Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans outline nutrient-dense foods and beverages, their amounts, and associated costs that can be purchased on three successively higher budgets, each supporting a healthy diet through nutritious meals and snacks at home. The Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans are used by various federal and state agencies and the court system. 

FNS has received feedback from some state agencies and regional offices that the post-disaster review requirements in the newly-revised Disaster Food Stamp Program (DFSP) Guidance may place an undue administrative burden on state agencies as they recover from major disasters.

This memorandum seeks to clarify questions raised by state agencies attending the July Disaster Food Stamp Program (DFSP) training in Biloxi, Mississippi concerning the authorities under which the Food and Nutrition Service may authorize operation of the DFSP.

The report draws on data for households participating in the Food Stamp Program under normal rules and thus does not include information about those who received disaster assistance after the Gulf Coast hurricanes in September and October 2005. 

The Thrifty Food Plan, a fundamental part of the U.S. food guidance system and the basis for maximum food stamp allotments, has been revised by USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, with assistance from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, Economic Research Service, and Agricultural Research Service. The TFP provides a representative healthful and minimal cost meal plan that shows how a nutritious diet may be achieved with limited resources. The plan assumes that all purchased food is consumed at home.

The purpose of this memorandum is to clarify a situation that has arisen in which a state agency is using federal funds to provide Food Stamp Employment and Training (E&T) program services to individuals receiving cash assistance funded by expenditures of state funds that count toward meeting the state’s Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) maintenance–of–effort (MOE) requirements.

It has come to our attention that there may be some confusion concerning fluid milk, and how it is offered in reimbursable lunches. Under all menu planning approaches, fluid milk is a separate food component/menu item.