Table 5.

Example of how a four-person family spending 40 % of the Thrifty Food Plan budget on fruits and vegetables can satisfy Federal dietary recommendations for both food groups over 1 week

	Cup equivalents	Retail cost		Cup equivalents	Retail cost
Fruit
Apples	7	$3·05	Starchy vegetables
Oranges	7	$4·61	Sweet corn, canned	4	$1·91
Grapes	6	$4·62	Green peas, frozen	4	$2·62
Fruit Cocktail, canned, packed in juice	6	$4·57	Potatoes	10	$1·97
Frozen concentrated orange juice	26	$8·57	Succotash, frozen	4	$2·68
Dark green vegetables			Other vegetables
Romaine heads	2	$0·66	Green cabbage	3	$0·79
Broccoli, frozen	2	$1·41	Radish	1	$0·45
Kale, fresh	3	$2·36	Cucumber, eaten with the skin	5	$1·71
			Green beans, canned	5	$1·89
Red and Orange Vegetables			Onions	1	$0·41
Whole carrots, consumed raw	5	$1·20	Green bell pepper	3	$1·45
Whole carrots, boiled	5	$1·52
Red bell pepper	4	$2·99	Beans and Peas
Sweet potato	2	$1·15	Lentils, dry	2	$0·44
Tomatoes, canned	3	$1·48	Red kidney beans, canned	5	$2·56
Roma tomatoes	4	$2·13
Total cost	$59·18
Average cost per cup equivalent	$0·46

Family of four includes a male and a female aged 31–45 years, one child aged 10 years and one child aged 8 years. In June 2016, the household’s weekly food budget is assumed to have been $147.76 of which about 40 % was earmarked for fruits and vegetables. Highlighted items have been added to the basket above what was included in Table 4. Costs of products are from the US Department of Agriculture’s Fruit and Vegetable Prices data product. Prices are 2016 average retail prices.