Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits are not intended to purchase all of a household’s meals for the month. The assistance group’s budget is compared against the Thrifty Food Plan to determine the final benefit amount. Assistance groups do not necessarily qualify for the maximum SNAP benefit for their group size. Benefits are intended to supplement the household’s other income to help purchase healthy meals during the month. Eligible households are issued SNAP monthly based on the Thrifty Food Plan, which is a model diet plan established by the National Academy of Sciences and supported by the U.S. Department of Agriculture.