SNAP benefits don't cover healthier diet costs: Study

(NewsNation) — As 42 million low-income SNAP recipients get caught in the ongoing government shutdown, a new study suggests the program’s purchasing power falls short of helping buy some of the healthiest eating plans.

Indiana-based researchers considered whether SNAP benefits, which are based on the Thrifty Food Plan model for a low-cost diet, provide enough money to cover the costs of three widely recognized, healthy eating plans: the Harvard Healthy Eating Pattern; the Mediterranean diet; and Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension, or the DASH diet.

SNAP benefits do not cover the entire costs for all demographics to maintain the Mediterranean or DASH diets, both of which can reduce chronic diseases, according to the study. But it determined SNAP benefits were enough for each demograp