Milling & Baking News - August 24, 2021 - 27

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Thrifty Food Plan to raise average
SNAP benefits about 21%
of the plan every five years.
The cost adjustment resulting from the
first reevaluation marked the first time the
purchasing power of the Thrifty Food Plan
will be increased. In previous updates to
the plan, the requirement was that they be
budget neutral, so benefits would rise to
offset the impact of inflation, but there was
no net increase in SNAP benefits that would
allow recipients to purchase the more
nutrient dense but more costly foods as recommended
by the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans and other nutrition guidance.
" A modernized Thrifty Food Plan is more
than a commitment to good nutrition - it's
an investment in our nation's health, economy,
and security, " said Secretary of Agriculture
Tom Vilsack. " Ensuring low-income
families have access to a healthy diet helps
prevent disease, supports children in the
classroom, reduces health care costs and
more. And the additional money families
will spend on groceries helps grow the food
economy, creating thousands of new jobs
along the way. "
The USDA in its reevaluation said it
considered the latest available data from
four key areas identified in the 2018 farm
bill directive: current food prices, what
Americans typically eat, dietary guidance
and the nutrients in food items. The
USDA gave the example of the revised
plan's updated Market Baskets including
more fish and red and orange vegetables
to align with recommendations in the
Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 20202025.
Additionally, the 2021 plan was calculated
using updated purchasing data -
collected from stores versus self-reported
by households - to reflect the current
price of foods in today's marketplace. The
revised Thrifty Food Plan also included a
modest increase in calories to reflect the
latest data and support an active lifestyle.
The USDA said the modernized Thrifty
Food Plan, 2021, puts more healthy food
in reach for SNAP families. It said data
consistently showed that benefit levels
under the current plan are too low to
provide for a realistic, healthy diet, even
with households contributing their
own funds toward groceries. A USDA
study published earlier this summer
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found that nearly 9 out of 10 SNAP participants
reported facing barriers to achieving
a healthy diet, with the most common
barrier being the cost of healthy foods.
" To set SNAP families up for success,
we need a Thrifty Food Plan that supports
current dietary guidance on a budget, "
said Stacy Dean, deputy undersecretary
for food, nutrition, and consumer services.
" Too many of our fellow Americans struggle
to afford healthy meals. "
The USDA said the reevaluation process
was guided by a goal to create Thrifty
Food Plan Market Baskets that contain
a variety of commonly consumed foods
and beverages that are lower in price and
THRIFTY FOOD PLAN, 2021,
MARKET BASKET
COST SHARE ACROSS
CATEGORIES
Miscellaneous
Vegetables
7%
Dairy
14%
24%
The USDA said households may choose
how to spend their SNAP allotments
according to their food needs.
" The Market Baskets simply illustrate
how a household could use their resources
to purchase foods and beverages that
align with dietary guidance and consumer
choices, selecting items within each category
that are lower in price and higher in
nutritional quality, " the USDA said.
In the Thrifty Food Plan, 2021, grains
make up about 16% of new Market Basket's
cost. The total cost for the TFP, 2021,
Market Basket was $193 a week for a reference
household that includes two adults
and two children. This indicated $31 per
week in grain foods compared with $25
per week under the current TFP, where
grains' share of the Market Basket is 15.7%
of the total $159 per week.
Of the total amount of grains in the 2021
Market Basket, about 64% of the quantity
share comes from whole grains. The
remaining 36% comes from refined-grain
categories that include refined staple
grains, of which most are enriched, and a
category that includes other grain-based
foods such as crackers, pretzels, tortilla
chips and ready-to-eat cereals that are less
nutrient dense.
" Modernizing SNAP to reflect rising
food prices and the actual costs to feed a
family in the 21st century will help millions
of families afford a healthy, nutritious
diet, " said Claire Babineaux-Fontenot,
chief executive officer of Feeding America.
Such plaudits were not universal. The
Protein
foods
25%
16%
Grains
Source: US Department of Agriculture
of higher nutritional quality (or nutrient
density) to support healthy meals and
snacks at home on a limited budget. The
Market Baskets comprise weekly amounts
in pounds from categories of foods and
beverages in purchasable forms, and
associated costs, to support a healthy diet.
The USDA said because most Americans
do not meet the Dietary Guidelines for
Americans, the final Market Baskets differ
from current consumption patterns
but adhere to those patterns as closely as
possible within the context of aligning
with national dietary guidance.
14%
Fruits
changes announced by the USDA would
increase SNAP costs by an estimated $20
billion a year. Ranking members of the
House and Senate agriculture committees,
Representative Glenn Thompson of
Pennsylvania and Senator John Boozman
of Arkansas, said in a letter to the Government
Accountability Office they wanted to
know how much involvement the White
House had in the USDA review and questioned
the legality of changing the position
that Thrifty Food Plan evaluations should
be conducted on a cost-neutral basis.
" While we expect this process will
elicit an increase to the cost of the Thrifty
Food Plan - and subsequently monthly
SNAP allotments - questions remain as
to how the Department has gone about
this review and update, including their
methodologies, administrative practices
and legal authorities, " Mr. Thompson and
Mr. Boozman wrote. MBN
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