The Thrifty Food Plan

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Overview

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit levels are based on the Thrifty Food Plan, a sample meal plan used to calculate the cost of budget-conscious groceries needed to provide enough healthy food for a family of four. This one-pager provides more detail on what the Thrifty Food Plan is, how it is developed, how it relates to SNAP benefit levels, and how it was updated in response to the bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill.