Does the USDA’s ‘One Size Fits All’ TFP Diet Fit?

The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) is the market basket used by the government to calculate SNAP benefits. It is optimized to provide a nutritious diet at the lowest possible cost. However, because our cultural upbringing significantly influences our food choices, a nutritionally-culturally neutral diet cannot be optimized for real-world consumption. The USDA TFP is based on the total US aggregate, with no variations for specific culinary cultures. With that concern in mind, a new Nutrients study seeks to individualize the TFP for Hispanics.

Why Hispanics?

First, the important caveat is that the term Hispanic is ambiguous and covers a lot of culinary ground across at least two continents. That being said, the Hispanic population is our second largest demographic group, making up more than 62 million in the US, or about 19% of the population. The data on the aggregate Hispanic diet comes from our old friend, the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES), specifically information from 24-hour food recalls of self-reported “Hispanics” in the What We Eat in America substudy. A more granular breakdown shows that half of the approximately 4200 respondents self-described as Mexican-American.

Another old friend, the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), used by the USDA to determine the TFP and subsequent SNAP benefits, provided information on the current nutritional value of authentic Hispanic diets. To the extent possible, the researchers used the same dataset and methodologies to calculate and optimize Hispanic TFP.

What’s For Dinner?

The Hispanic population that participated in the study was generally younger, less educated, and “with much lower family income-to-poverty ratios.” The extent to which they “cultivated” themselves and their diet was not measured. The nutritional value of their diet, the HEI, was no different to the rest of the US population – both are equally poor, with a value of 50 on a 100-point scale.

“Based on the current analyses, the eating habits of the Hispanic group failed to conform to some stereotypical assumptions.”

• Vegetable consumption was comparable between Hispanic and non-Hispanic groups. The Hispanic group ate fewer dark green and red/orange vegetables but significantly more beans, peas and lentils.
• Fruit juice consumption was significantly higher in the Hispanic group [1]
• Breads, tortillas, pasta, and rice were higher in the Hispanic group, but lower in biscuits, muffins, and quick bread.
• Milk and yogurt consumption was similar, but the Hispanic group ate less cheese.
• The Hispanic group ate less meat and cured nuts/seeds.
• The Hispanic group ate more mixed dishes with beans, eggs, and grains (omelets) and less mixed dishes with meat/seafood vegetables.
• Consumption of soups and sandwiches was higher; candy, snack bars, coffee, and tea consumption was lower in the Hispanic group.

Estimated food costs tended, as expected, with food preferences; the Hispanic diet was less expensive by about $6 for a family of four while maintaining a comparable IAO.

“Choosing “healthier” diets as the starting point for optimization modeling should maximize the amounts of vegetables, whole fruits and whole grains and minimize the amount of added sugars, solid fats, refined grains and meat.”

With the data in hand, the researchers turned to modeling. They developed two models: H-TFP 1 focused on more whole grains, fresh pork, and less poultry, and H-TFP 2, where pork was the only source of meat. Both models were cost neutral at the $189 food budget for a family of four. Both models were better suited for real-world Hispanic eating.

• H-TFP 1 had similar total vegetable intake but included more starch and less other vegetables.
• H-TFP 1 had the same amount of fruit but chose more 100% fruit juice.
• H-TFP 1 included more whole grains and less refined grains.
• The H-TFP 1 model chose more cheese, no low-density dairy products, and higher amounts of pork, with less poultry and no cured meats.
• Seafood and nuts were kept at their maximum permitted amounts.
• The H-TFP 1 included more miscellaneous foods, especially soda-like drinks (both regular and diet) and nutritional drinks.

The H-TFP 2 diet, where fresh pork was preferentially selected, also provided greater HEI at the same cost as the current USDA TFP. The researchers tried to create a vegetarian Hispanic TFP, but they did,

“failed to find a mathematical solution for some population subgroups. For the most part, the modeled food patterns did not provide enough energy or were deficient in one or more nutrients.” [2]

Perhaps the most significant limitation of the study, in addition to not recognizing the many Hispanic culinary cultures, was the acculturation and changing dietary patterns that occur over time and experience. However, the study shows that TFP can be optimized for traditional diets and “culture-specific ingredients”. Whether that is feasible as a real-world policy option remains to be seen, and we do not know whether a more culturally sensitive approach would better serve nutritional needs.

This study shows how difficult it is to adapt the USDA’s strict dietary guidelines to reflect real-world culinary diversity without blowing the budget—the TFP is an imperfect science experiment that keeps taste forgotten.

[1] Fruit juice is often blamed in studies related to taxes on sugar-sweetened beverages because it is often a high-sugar substitute.

[2] In the case of males, this often occurred because they were unable to meet the caloric requirements given the food group restrictions; a mathematical solution could be made by making significant changes to the diet to include eggs, dairy, pizza, sandwiches, and sweet bakery products instead of meat or by significantly increasing the family’s food budget.

Source: Hispanic Thrifty Food Plan (H-TFP): Healthy, Affordable and Culturally Relevant Nutrients DOI: 10.3390/nu16172915