USDA produces four food plans at successively higher cost levels: the Thrifty, Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans, illustrating how a healthy diet can be achieved at various costs. Each food plan specifies quantities of foods and beverages that could be purchased and prepared to make healthy meals and snacks at home. Each food plan has an associated cost based on average prices of their respective foods and beverages at the time of publication plus adjustments each month to refle...
