[Family food basket. Definition and methodology]

A simple and practical methodology is proposed to define the "Family Food Basket", that must be based on the prevalent food situation of a country. At present, the "Family Food Basket" is an expression frequently used by government agencies (Ministries of Economics, Agriculture and Statistical Offices), because the money value estimation of the "Basket" is used as the basis for the establishment of minimum wages for the different socioeconomic groups. It is necessary, therefore, to determine the quantities of different foods that should be included as part of the diets so as to cover the nutritional requirements of the population. An explanation is also given here to show the differences between the "Food Basket" and the "Minimum Cost Recommended Diets", prepared in 1970 for the Central American countries. In order to explain the methodology, an example is given trying to define the "Family Food Basket of El Salvador" on the basis of available information gathered from food consumption surveys carried out at national level. Since a standardized methodology to obtain the actual food prices does not exist, some alternatives are given to estimate the money value of the "Family Food Basket".