The monthly SNAP allotment is based on the TFP. Every month, USDA calculates the cost of the TFP as well as the other three USDA food plans. The June price of the TFP is used to set the maximum SNAP allotment for the upcoming fiscal year.

What are the other USDA food plans used for? The TFP is generally not used by government agencies for any purpose other than setting SNAP allotments. Government agencies, when determining the cost of food for certain purposes, generally use one of the three higher-cost food plans.

For example, the Low-Cost Food Plan is used by bankruptcy courts to determine the amount of income to allocate to food costs, and the Liberal Food Plan is used by the military to set the food allowance for service members. All three higher-cost food plans also are used to determine alimony, child support, and foster care guidelines or payments.

How are the USDA food plans developed? Every so many years, USDA updates the food plans by creating market baskets for 15 different age and gender groups. For example, each plan has a market basket for children 2 to 3 years old, another market basket for females 12 to 13 years old, another market basket for males 12 to 13 years old, and so forth.

Each market basket lists the number of pounds per week allotted for subgroups of grains, vegetables, fruits, milk products, meat and beans, and other foods. For instance, the TFP market basket for a child 2 to 3 years old includes 0.

The market baskets are based on rather sophisticated mathematical models that are intended to account for actual food consumption, actual food prices, updated food composition data, and current dietary recommendations, while working within the constraint of maintaining the inflation-adjusted cost of the prior plans.

This is an important point — the purchasing power of the food plans, including the TFP — has yet to be increased. The last revision to the TFP was in and a long overdue re-evaluation is being undertaken at USDA right now.

The other three USDA food plans were last revised in How does the TFP differ from the other USDA food plans? Compared to the TFP, the three higher-cost food plans have much more generous budgets, as shown in the figures above.

The specific food quantities in the plans also differ, with the total pounds of food per week in a market basket increasing with the cost of the plan. In addition, the three higher-cost food plans allow for more food choices and variety.

As a result, the higher-cost food plans allow for healthy foods that are not the cheapest options in a food group, unlike the TFP e.

What are the weaknesses of the TFP? In this position, Salaam wields his expertise on SNAP, previous experience as public benefits attorney and deputy director of the Virginia Poverty Law Center VPLC , and lived experience in poverty to advance policies to protect and strengthen SNAP, including advocating for a strong Farm Bill that strengthens benefit adequacy and equitable access to the program.

The permanent, nationwide Summer Electronic Benefit Transfer Summer EBT Program is set to begin in summer Thirty-five states, Washington, D.

The U. Department of Agriculture Food and Nutrition Services USDA FNS has issued an Interim Final Rule IFR that details how states must implement and operate the program.

Check labels on cereals and juices to choose those with high amounts of calcium. To make your food dollars count, choose less expensive forms of milk, yogurt and cheese. The healthier versions are the low or nonfat types. Drink fat-free milk at meals; put it on cereal and use in cooking.

Some products, such as ice milk, may have little fat but will add calories to your diet because of the sugar that they contain. Enjoy these foods, but in smaller portions.

Foods included in this group are meats, poultry, fish, dry beans, dry peas, soybeans, lentils, eggs, nuts, and peanut butter. These foods not only provide protein, but are also sources of vitamins and minerals. Iron is an important nutrient found in this food group.

Your meat and poultry choices should be low-fat or lean. Choose cooking methods such as broiling, baking, or grilling to reducing adding fat to your meal. Plant sources such as nuts, seeds, and beans contain healthy sources of fats and are less expensive than other choices from this food group.

Eggs have very good quality protein and are low in cost. Have most of the fat in your diet come from fish, nuts, and vegetable oils such as canola, olive, soybean, corn, safflower, and sunflower oil. Examples of food items that contain oils include mayonnaise, certain salad dressings, and soft tub or squeeze margarine with no trans fat.

Solid fats include butter, shortening, stick margarine, lard, and meat fats and are not part of the oils category. Sugar has many names: syrup, molasses, and honey are some of them. Candy, jam, jelly, and many soft drinks are mostly sugar, too. Sugars are high in calories and low in nutrients.

Limit them in your menu plan. Much of the salt in our diets is added to foods during cooking and at the table. Try using less table salt and eating fewer salty foods. Many of these foods have salt in them:.

Not everyone loves to cook. Even those who enjoy cooking do not always have the time or the energy. Buying convenience foods or eating out can be costly.

But there are ways to eat well at low cost without spending hours in the kitchen. Again, planning ahead will help you. Consider these ideas:. This menu is planned for two people. If your family is larger or smaller, adjust it to suit your needs. You can find recipes for the foods in bold print in the companion bulletins in the Thrifty Meals for Small Families series.

Serving sizes are included in the recipes. Information in this publication is provided purely for educational purposes. No responsibility is assumed for any problems associated with the use of products or services mentioned.

No endorsement of products or companies is intended, nor is criticism of unnamed products or companies implied. Call The following person has been designated to handle inquiries regarding non-discrimination policies: Sarah E.

Harebo, Director of Equal Opportunity, North Stevens Hall, University of Maine, Orono, ME , Calendar Give News Find us Contact. Cooperative Extension Publications. Home Copyright Books and Publications for Sale. Bulletin , Planning Thrifty Meals for Small Families.

Cooperative Extension Publications University of Maine, Libby Hall, Room Orono, Maine Tel: orders maine. Orange 1 Bran flakes cereal 3 ounces Whole-wheat toast 3 slices Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Apple juice 1 cup Eggs 2 Toast 4 slices Fat-free milk 2 cups. Banana 2 Oatmeal 1 cup dry Fat-free milk 2 cups. Apple juice 1 cup Fat-free milk 2 cups Applesauce muffins 3. Banana 2 Oatmeal 1 cup dry Applesauce muffins 3 Fat-free milk 2 cups. Orange 2 Bran flakes cereal 3 ounces Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Apple juice 1 cup Scrambled eggs 2 Toasted whole-grain bread 2 Margarine 1 tbsp Fat-free milk 2 cup. Braised turkey 6 oz with gravy Baked potatoes 2 med Green beans 2 cups Biscuits 2 Pudding. Turkey-potato salad on lettuce leaves 2 Biscuits 2 Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Grilled cheese sandwich 4 oz 2 Carrot sticks 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups. Taco salad Fat-free milk 2 cups. Tuna salad 6 oz with lettuce on whole-wheat bread 4 Hot potato salad 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups. lean ground beef or turkey 2 rolls Banana 2 Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Turkey Spanish rice 2 cups Green pepper sticks 1 pepper Apple wedges 1 Biscuit 2. Beef and pepper s Brown rice 2 cups cooked Broccoli 2 cups raw or cooked Apple cobbler half Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Beef with noodles Broccoli 2 cups raw or cooked Apple wedges 2 apples Fat-free milk 2 cups. Whole-wheat crackers 14 Fat-free milk 2 cups. Applesauce muffins 2 Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Air-popped popcorn 8 cups popped Fat-free milk 2 cups. Apple cobbler half Fat-free milk 2 cups. Toasted Oat cereal 3 ounces Pears, canned 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups. Orange quarters 2 Oatmeal 1 cup dry Fat-free milk 2 cups. Banana 2 Toasted oat cereal 3 ounces Fat-free milk 2 cups.

By examining the four factors outlined by Congress, the USDA has developed an updated TFP more reflective of the realistic costs of purchasing adequate amounts of healthy foods and beverages in the U.

The TFP comes with a significant change to the method by which it is calculated. This outdated cost-neutral constraint was overridden and made moot in the Farm Bill, which requires that the TFP reevaluation process be driven by assessing food and beverages that contribute to a healthy diet and then determining costs at which they could be realistically purchased by households with limited resources.

To adhere to SNAP regulations, the TFP Market Baskets do not include: foods that are hot at the point of sale e. hot soups or roasted chickens , consumed away from home e. at restaurants , or alcoholic beverages.

While the TFP is based on at-home preparation of foods, it does not assume that all foods are prepared from scratch, rather, the Market Baskets include common convenience items such as canned beans and frozen vegetables.

Whether and to what extent the TFP should include prepared convenience foods is an issue the USDA plans to continue to consider given the changing nature of how food is sold in markets. One of the goals of the reevaluation was to ensure people had the flexibility to choose from a diverse set of foods that will provide the greatest health benefits for their individual circumstances.

As the U. This increase will take effect at the beginning of the Federal Fiscal Year beginning on October 1, Why should we care about the TFP? The monthly SNAP allotment is based on the TFP. Every month, USDA calculates the cost of the TFP as well as the other three USDA food plans.

The June price of the TFP is used to set the maximum SNAP allotment for the upcoming fiscal year. What are the other USDA food plans used for?

The TFP is generally not used by government agencies for any purpose other than setting SNAP allotments. Government agencies, when determining the cost of food for certain purposes, generally use one of the three higher-cost food plans.

For example, the Low-Cost Food Plan is used by bankruptcy courts to determine the amount of income to allocate to food costs, and the Liberal Food Plan is used by the military to set the food allowance for service members.

All three higher-cost food plans also are used to determine alimony, child support, and foster care guidelines or payments. How are the USDA food plans developed? Every so many years, USDA updates the food plans by creating market baskets for 15 different age and gender groups.

For example, each plan has a market basket for children 2 to 3 years old, another market basket for females 12 to 13 years old, another market basket for males 12 to 13 years old, and so forth. Each market basket lists the number of pounds per week allotted for subgroups of grains, vegetables, fruits, milk products, meat and beans, and other foods.

For instance, the TFP market basket for a child 2 to 3 years old includes 0. The market baskets are based on rather sophisticated mathematical models that are intended to account for actual food consumption, actual food prices, updated food composition data, and current dietary recommendations, while working within the constraint of maintaining the inflation-adjusted cost of the prior plans.

This is an important point — the purchasing power of the food plans, including the TFP — has yet to be increased. The last revision to the TFP was in and a long overdue re-evaluation is being undertaken at USDA right now.

The other three USDA food plans were last revised in How does the TFP differ from the other USDA food plans? Calendar Give News Find us Contact. Cooperative Extension Publications. Home Copyright Books and Publications for Sale. Bulletin , Planning Thrifty Meals for Small Families. Cooperative Extension Publications University of Maine, Libby Hall, Room Orono, Maine Tel: orders maine.

Orange 1 Bran flakes cereal 3 ounces Whole-wheat toast 3 slices Fat-free milk 2 cups. Apple juice 1 cup Eggs 2 Toast 4 slices Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Banana 2 Oatmeal 1 cup dry Fat-free milk 2 cups. Apple juice 1 cup Fat-free milk 2 cups Applesauce muffins 3. Banana 2 Oatmeal 1 cup dry Applesauce muffins 3 Fat-free milk 2 cups. Orange 2 Bran flakes cereal 3 ounces Fat-free milk 2 cups. Apple juice 1 cup Scrambled eggs 2 Toasted whole-grain bread 2 Margarine 1 tbsp Fat-free milk 2 cup.

Braised turkey 6 oz with gravy Baked potatoes 2 med Green beans 2 cups Biscuits 2 Pudding. Turkey-potato salad on lettuce leaves 2 Biscuits 2 Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Grilled cheese sandwich 4 oz 2 Carrot sticks 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups. Taco salad Fat-free milk 2 cups. Tuna salad 6 oz with lettuce on whole-wheat bread 4 Hot potato salad 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups. lean ground beef or turkey 2 rolls Banana 2 Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Turkey Spanish rice 2 cups Green pepper sticks 1 pepper Apple wedges 1 Biscuit 2. Beef and pepper s Brown rice 2 cups cooked Broccoli 2 cups raw or cooked Apple cobbler half Fat-free milk 2 cups. Beef with noodles Broccoli 2 cups raw or cooked Apple wedges 2 apples Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Whole-wheat crackers 14 Fat-free milk 2 cups. Applesauce muffins 2 Fat-free milk 2 cups. Air-popped popcorn 8 cups popped Fat-free milk 2 cups. Apple cobbler half Fat-free milk 2 cups. Toasted Oat cereal 3 ounces Pears, canned 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Orange quarters 2 Oatmeal 1 cup dry Fat-free milk 2 cups. Banana 2 Toasted oat cereal 3 ounces Fat-free milk 2 cups. Orange quarters 2 Scrambled eggs 2 with cheese 2 ounces Whole-wheat toast 4 slices Margarine 1 tbsp Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Whole-wheat Toast 4 slices Peanut butter 3 tbsp Melon 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups. Orange quarters 1 Oatmeal 1 cup dry Applesauce muffins 2 Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Eggs 2 Lean ham 2 ounces Cheese 2 ounces Toasted whole-grain rolls 2 Apple juice 1 cup. Pork fajitas 4 Melon wedges 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups. Pork sandwich 2 4. Ham and cheese sandwich 2 ounces cheese, 2 ounce lean ham, 4 slices, whole-wheat bread Broccoli soup 2 cups Carrot-raisin bars 6.

Vegetable fried rice 2 cups Canned peaches 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups. Quick pizza 4 slices Pears 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups. Sesame fish Boiled potatoes 2 med Margarine 1 tbsp Chopped kale 2 cups Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Spaghetti with 4 ounces ground beef or ground turkeyCooked pasta 2 cups Cucumber slices 1 cup Fat-free milk 2 cups. Vegetable Fried Rice 2 cups Apple slices 2 apples Cheddar cheese cubes 2 ounces.

Stove-top beans Chopped kale 2 cups Whole-wheat dinner roll 2 Baked Apple 2 Fat-free milk 2 cups. Bean tamale Pie 2 cups Green beans 12 cups Whole-wheat dinner roll 2 Fat-free milk 2 cups. Noodles 2 cup cooked Stove top beans 2 cups Apple slices 2 apples Carrot-raisin bars 6 Fat-free milk 2 cups.

Carrot-raisin bars 6 Fat-free milk 2 cups.