Dr. Nicholas Gabler, a Professor of Swine Nutrition at Iowa State University, summarized a 2023 peer-reviewed research article authored by Drs. Romane Poinsot, Matthieu Maillot, and Adam Drewnowski. The article discusses the value of pork as a source of protein when creating a healthy and affordable grocery budget for families in the United States. Keep reading to learn about the main findings of the article and how the research was conducted.
Major Finding
The USDA Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) plays a critical role in calculating the amount of food assistance a family can receive in the U.S. by estimating the lowest cost of a healthy diet that meets dietary guidelines. In this study, a computer modeling system used the same input data as the TFP 2021 and demonstrated that pork could be a cost-effective substitute for beef and poultry in healthy diets.
When researchers ran price models with pork as the primary protein source, the cost of the model diets was equal to the amount of food assistance provided by TFP 2021. Models favoring beef cost significantly more, depending on the demographic group receiving assistance.
Overall, these analyses suggested incorporating fresh pork as a primary meat source can offer a viable, affordable option within the context of the TFP, allowing consumers to make both economical and nutritious dietary choices.
Why It Matters
The USDA has four food plans that estimate the cost of a healthy diet at different price points. The TFP is the least expensive food plan. The TFP allocates a percentage of a family's weekly budget to protein foods, defined by the USDA as meats and poultry, seafood, eggs, nuts, and soy products.
The 2021 TFP food prices were higher for meat than for poultry, giving poultry a greater share of the protein foods in the TFP 2021 market basket. However, multiple meat sources can satisfy nutritional needs. Because pork is currently a less expensive protein source, it could have a price advantage and serve as a key protein source for families in the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP).
How the Research Was Conducted
Researchers used quadratic programming (QP) models to analyze and compare various QP models for optimization the inclusion of pork in the TFP. Using the same publicly available databases and modeling categories listed in the TFP 2021 data files, along with the 2021 national food prices, the QP models estimated amounts of pork and searched for the lowest-cost healthy diets with pork as the only source of meat.
Learn More
Read the full peer-reviewed article to learn more about how this research was conducted and the role of pork in a healthy, budget-friendly diet.