USDA's Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans: Development and Expenditure Shares

The Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans represent nutritious diets at various costs. This revision of the market baskets of each food plan using a mathematical optimization model reflects recent changes in dietary guidance and incorporates updated information on food composition, consumption patterns, and food prices at the same inflation-adjusted cost of the previous food plans. This analysis shows how food expenditures need to change to obtain a healthful diet. The analysis is particularly significant because average food expenses exceed the cost of the Low-Cost Food Plan. Hence, Americans could achieve a healthful diet at less the cost than they are currently paying