The Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans, 2007

The Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans, three fundamental parts of the U.S. food guidance system, have been revised by USDA’s Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion, with assistance from USDA’s Food and Nutrition Service, Economic Research Service, and Agricultural Research Service. The plans provide representative healthful market baskets at three different cost levels. This revision maintains the same inflation-adjusted costs as those of the previous three food plans, last revised in 2003. In line with previous food plans, an assumption used to develop these plans was that all purchased food is consumed at home. The newly revised (2007) Low-Cost, Moderate-Cost, and Liberal Food Plans differ from, and improve upon, the previous versions in a number of ways: • The Plans are based on the most current dietary standards: the 2005 Dietary Guidelines for Americans as well as the 2005 MyPyramid Food Guidance System. • The Plans use the latest data on food consumption, nutrient content, and food prices: the 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey and the 2001- 2002 Food Price Database. • The Plans offer a more realistic reflection of the time available for home food preparation; hence, each plan incorporates more prepared foods within the recipes and requires fewer preparations from scratch.