The market basket costs in the Thrifty Food Plan, 2021 apply to the contiguous 48 states and the District of Columbia. By law, the USDA must make cost adjustments to the Thrifty Food Plan to reflect the cost of food in Alaska and Hawaii. The Thrifty Food Plan Cost Estimates for Alaska and Hawaii report provides updated estimates of the June 2022 cost of the reevaluated Thrifty Food Plan in Alaska and Hawaii.
USDA produces four food plans outlining practical, nutritious diets at successively higher cost levels: the Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans. The Thrifty Food Plan serves as the basis for maximum allotments in SNAP.
The Nutrition Education and Local Food Access Dashboard is comprised of public data. The goal of the dashboard is to provide a county-level visualization of FNS nutrition support, specifically nutrition education and local food access, alongside other metrics related to hunger and nutritional health.
The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion was created in 1994 to improve the health of Americans by developing and promoting dietary guidance that links scientific research to the nutrition needs of consumers.
This document provides the initial study plan for the reevaluation of the Thrifty Food Plan, 2026. This initial study plan is based on information available as of April 2023. The USDA, FNS intends to publish a final study plan by early 2026.
The USDA food plans represent a healthy diet at four different cost levels. Each food plan specifies quantities of food and beverage categories that can be purchased and prepared to make healthy meals and snacks at home.
As part of the WIC innovation and modernization efforts to be funded under ARPA, FNS is supporting planning and implementation projects focused on enhancements that improve the WIC participant experience, as evidenced by enhancing the WIC shopping experience, increasing participant enrollment, reducing unnecessary administrative burden for both participants and administrators, including through data matching to streamline enrollment, and retaining eligible participants while improving equity
USDA offers prototypes of school meal applications, as well as sample instructional documents intended to assist state and local officials in the design and distribution of their own application materials.