Make It Stretch · getdealtin.com
About & Data Sources
Make It Stretch uses real government data, verified food prices, and official legislative records. Here's exactly what powers each section — and where the limitations are.
Food Prices
Regional grocery prices
Food prices in the shopping list are drawn from the BLS Average Retail Food Prices series, updated annually. Prices are broken down by region: Northeast, Midwest, South, and West. Your zip code determines which regional average applies.
Source: BLS Average Retail Food Prices → · Series IDs: APU[region][item]
Limitation: BLS prices are regional averages, not store-specific. Your actual prices may vary based on your store, local sales, and whether you shop at discount retailers like Aldi or dollar stores. The brand comparison section shows specific product prices which are updated periodically.
Meal Plan & Recipes
Curated recipe database
The ingredients and food categories in every shopping list are grounded in the USDA's Thrifty Food Plan — the federal government's evidence-based model for what a nutritionally adequate diet looks like on a constrained budget. The tool uses the same food group proportions (grains, protein, vegetables, fruit, dairy, fats) that the USDA uses to calculate SNAP benefit amounts, allocating your budget across those categories accordingly.
Recipes are drawn from a curated database of 161 budget-friendly dishes across six cuisine traditions: American, Latin, Asian, Southern, Mediterranean, and universal staples. Every recipe uses only ingredients the shopping list has already budgeted for, and is designed for minimal equipment and cooking time. No AI is used — recipe matching is rule-based and deterministic.
Source: USDA Thrifty Food Plan → · Cuisines: American · Latin · Asian · Southern · Mediterranean · Any
Community Data
Zip-level food insecurity and income data
The "Your Community" section in the sidebar uses ACS 5-year estimates at the Zip Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) level. The following variables are retrieved for your zip code:
B22010_002E — Households receiving SNAP food assistance
B22010_001E — Total households (SNAP universe)
B17001_002E — People below the poverty level
B17001_001E — Total people (poverty universe)
B19013_001E — Median household income
B11001_001E — Total households
B01003_001E — Total population
Source: Census Bureau ACS 5-Year API → · Data vintage: 2018–2022
Limitation: ACS 5-year estimates are rolling averages — not real-time. Actual current conditions in your zip code may differ. ZCTA boundaries also don't perfectly match USPS zip codes; a small number of zip codes may return no data.
Federal Poverty Benchmarks
Thrifty Food Plan — $5.36/person/day
The federal poverty food threshold used in the sidebar is the USDA Thrifty Food Plan cost, which represents the minimum amount the federal government estimates is needed to eat adequately. The figure ($5.36/person/day) reflects the FY2024 updated Thrifty Food Plan amounts.
Source: USDA Food Plans: Cost of Food →
SNAP Maximum Benefit — $6.22/person/day
The maximum SNAP daily benefit per person is based on FY2024 maximum monthly allotments for a household of one ($291/month ÷ 30 days ≈ $6.22/day). Actual benefits vary by household size and income.
Legislative Votes
Senator votes on food assistance legislation
The "Who Voted On Your Groceries" section displays your state's two U.S. Senators and their recorded votes on three pieces of legislation directly affecting food assistance programs.
H.R.1 — "One Big Beautiful Bill" (2025)
Includes provisions reducing SNAP eligibility and shifting program costs to states. CBO estimated approximately 3 million households would lose eligibility. Congress.gov →
SNAP Work Requirement Expansion
Extends mandatory work requirements for SNAP recipients to age 64. Part of H.R.1. Congress.gov →
FY2025 Continuing Resolution — Emergency Food Assistance (TEFAP)
Maintained funding for The Emergency Food Assistance Program, which supplies food commodities to food banks and pantries nationwide. Congress.gov →
Senator roster: api.congress.gov → · Vote attribution: party-line roll call records
Note on vote attribution: Senate votes are attributed by party affiliation based on the official party-line roll call for H.R.1. Individual senator votes may differ from party position in rare cases. Always verify at congress.gov.
State-level food and SNAP bills
State legislature activity related to food, nutrition, and SNAP is sourced from the OpenStates API, which aggregates official state legislative records across all 50 states.
Source: OpenStates.org →
Food Assistance Resources
Resource links
All resource links in the "Get Help" section point to official federal or nationally recognized organizations:
SNAP Application — benefits.gov
Food Bank Locator — Feeding America
Emergency Food Help — 211.org
WIC Program Contacts — USDA
Free & Reduced School Meals — USDA
Senior Food Assistance — ACL
What We Don't Do
No AI in meal planning. All meal suggestions come from a manually curated, human-reviewed recipe database of 161 dishes. The system is deterministic — same inputs produce the same plan.
No data storage. The zip code and budget information you enter is used only to generate your plan during your session. Nothing is stored after you leave.
No advertising. The brand and store comparisons in the shopping list reflect actual market pricing research, not paid placements. Claude products are ad-free.
Contact
Questions about data sources or methodology: Contact us