You CAN eat healthy food for low cost!

Have you ever wondered how much it really costs to eat like the 2005 Dietary Guidelines and MyPyramid Guidance System (you know, the “new food guide pyramid”) tell us to eat? The Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion (CNPP), a division of the USDA, has put out an 80 page report on the costs of different meal plans.

The 4 USDA food plans are as follows:

1. Thrifty — “The national standard for a nutritious diet” that is the cheapest (most cost effective); this is what food stamp programs are based on.
2. Low-Cost — this is what bankruptcy courts use to determine which portion of a bankrupt person’s income is allotted to food.
3. Moderate-Cost — Sorry, couldn’t pin this one down to any major usage
4. Liberal — The Dept of Defense uses this to determine the “Basic Allowance for Subsistence for all service members”.

Who else uses these plans? They are often used for alimony cases, foster care guidelines, and child support cases. Isn’t it great to finally know where this information comes from?

What the CNPP has done is divide these plans up into “market baskets”, which basically means all of the food needed to be purchased for one week of healthy menus. These are then categorized by different age groups, such that an 17 year old male will be at a higher basket rate than a 60 year old woman, because the boy needs more calories than the older woman does.

Do they meet all of the nutrition guidelines?

For the most part. Unfortunately, the diets are lower in potassium and vitamin E and higher in sodium than the Dietary Guidelines recommend. Because they wanted to base these diets as much as possible as what Americans typically eat, they had to make some compromises.

The food plans assume that you are going to buy food “as is”; i.e., you’ll buy grains uncooked (like pasta and cook it once home), raw, canned or frozen vegetables, meat with bones, and juice concentrate. It also assumes that all food is prepared at home (so no fast food!). And before you say that making food at home takes a lot of time, see my post on thrifty food recipes.

So what are the numbers? I’m going to assume that most of you reading this are between the ages of 19-70 years old, so I’m only presenting that data. For data on other age groups, see CNPP’s website.

Males

For a Male, aged 19 – 50 years, budget the following for food PER WEEK:

• Thrifty food plan = $36.60,
• Low-cost food plan = $47.30
• Moderate-cost food plan = $58.50
• Liberal food plan = $71.60

For a male, aged 51-70 years, budget the following for food PER WEEK:

• Thrifty food plan = $33.50
• Low-cost food plan = $44.80
• Moderate-cost food plan = $55.10
• Liberal food plan = $66.50

Females

For a female, aged 19 – 50 years, budget the following for food PER WEEK:

• Thrifty food plan = $32.90
• Low-cost food plan = $41.20
• Moderate-cost food plan = $50.30
• Liberal food plan = $64.80

For a female, aged 51-70 years, budget the following for food PER WEEK:

• Thrifty food plan = $32.40
• Low-cost food plan = $39.90
• Moderate-cost food plan = $49.60
• Liberal food plan = $59.60

Families

So, if you are a family of 2, (2 adults between the ages of 19-50 years), expect to pay, PER MONTH:

• Thrifty food plan = $331.50
• Low-cost food plan = $421.90
• Moderate-cost food plan = $518.40
• Liberal food plan = $650.20

If you are a family of 4, (2 adults between 19-50 years of age, kids between the ages of 2-5 years), expect to pay, PER MONTH:

• Thrifty food plan = $482.40
• Low-cost food plan = $612.60
• Moderate-cost food plan = $750.80
• Liberal food plan = $ 930.70

Conclusion

Take a look at these numbers and compare them to what you have allotted in your monthly budget. Are you budgeting more than this or less than this?

Remember that these are researched data for how much it will cost you to eat healthy for a whole month. Interesting, isn’t it? It helps me argue my point with my husband when I tell him that he has budgeted too little for our groceries (only $200 per month for food alone)!!!!

_{Photo Credit: Rick}

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