The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) announced August 16 that it has updated the Thrifty Food Plan (TFP), which is used to set the amount of food assistance people participating in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) receive, to more accurately reflect the cost of a healthy diet. Congress directed USDA to undertake this science-driven update to the TFP in the bipartisan 2018 farm bill. This long-overdue update is an important step toward better aligning SNAP benefit levels with the program’s mission of increasing food security and reducing hunger.[1] Until now, the