Wilde, P. & Llobrera, J. Using the Thrifty Food Plan to Assess the Cost of a Nutritious Diet. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 43(2), 274-304.
Brief description: The federal government’s Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) minimizes the difference between a proposed food plan and a current consumption bundle, subject to cost and nutrition constraints. This article adapted the TFP framework to estimate the cost of a nutritious diet, distinguishing between nutrition constraints based on food categories (meat, vegetables) or nutrients (saturated fat, calcium). The article reports the extent to which each constraint affects a “distance function” that quantifies the differences between a proposed food plan and current consumption patterns.
Implications: The official cost target for the TFP was sufficient if one tolerated a very high difference from current consumption patterns, or if one used nutrition standards instead of MyPyramid food category standards. In other scenarios, with different constraints, the official cost target was insufficient.
