Incorporating Food-away-from-Home into the Thrifty Food Plan

This study explores the impact of incorporating Food-away-from-Home (FAFH) into the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP). The new model of this study, FLEX, uses similar sets of datasets on prices, nutrition and average consumption pattern as those used in the TFP model. The 2001-2002 National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) data is used to generate average consumption and nutrient profiles. The relative price ratio of FAFH to FAH is assumed and fixed at 1.77. We compared nutrient intake, food intake and food expenditure amount across the FLEX, TFP, and the current low-income consumers' consumption pattern. The overall finding is that moderate amount of FAFH can be a part of a balanced and nutritious diet and allowing FAFH as another food sources makes the diet recommendations relatively easier to follow. With the relative price assumption used in this study, considering FAFH does not make the diet plan unaffordable.