The Thrifty Food Plan

Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefit levels are based on the Thrifty Food Plan, a budget-conscious meal plan that uses a mathematical formula to represents the cost of groceries needed to provide enough healthy food for a family of four. 

The bipartisan 2018 Farm Bill directed the USDA to re-evaluate how benefit values are set by updating the Thrifty Food Plan to take into account current shopping patterns and dietary needs without requiring the changes to be cost-neutral.  Future changes are now required to be cost-neutral.

This document provides more detail on the Thrifty Food Plan, how it is developed, recent changes, and how it relates to SNAP benefit levels.