This is a great article written by Talk About Curing Autism (TACA). The gluten free, casein free diet gets a bad reputation for being expensive. Cost is often a barrier we hear about from patients. However, TACA did an independent study to find out if it was possible to eat a gluten free, casein free, soy free diet while on food stamps. Not only were they able to stay under their allotted budget with money to spare, they were even able to plan their meals according to the Food Pyramid Guidelines, ensuring that they were not only eating foods that were GF/CF/SF, but that were nutritious too. Here is their summary of the study:

According to the USDA’s SNAP program, a family of four can get up to $588 per month of food subsidy funding. Of course, not every family gets that much so we aimed at the median family of four subsidy of $396 per month.  However, we did it in just $319!  (Technically, the food needed only cost $282.05 so the $319 includes the leftovers.)

We only included foods that were free of gluten, casein and soy.  We based the menu on the USDA’s Nutrition program for quantity and food groups to make sure the diet was healthy, not merely inexpensive.

Once we had a monthly menu and a shopping list, we compared costs for the same products in three states to get a national average cost.

Tip! Want to save a bundle?  Plant a garden!  Even a small patio can grow plenty of money-saving and healthy food, plus it’s great for the kids to learn!  If you have room for a tree, make it something that fruits and feeds your family. Also, buy food in season because it’s cheaper when it’s abundant.

Please note that the following menu, shopping list and recipes are for FOUR people for each meal and all four people are on the GFCFSF diet. It will be even CHEAPER if you use non-GFCF things like pasta, bread and pancake mix for those who don’t need it but we wanted to make sure that the diet COULD be done on this budget with the most ease when cooking for a whole family.  If you do this, you should cook the non-GFCF pasta or pancakes in a separate pot/pan.

To see a sample of their diet plan and for more helpful resources for living gluten, casein and/or soy free while on food stamps, visit their site here.