Least-cost diets to teach optimization and consumer behavior, with applications to health equity, poverty measurement and international development

Abstract: The least-cost diet problem introduces students to optimization and linear programming, using the health consequences of food choice. We provide a graphical example, Excel workbook and Word template using actual data on item prices, food composition and nutrient requirements for a brief exercise in which students guess at and then solve for nutrient adequacy at lowest cost, before comparing modeled diets to actual consumption which has varying degrees of nutrient adequacy. The graphical example is a 'three sisters' diet of corn, beans and squash, and the full multidimensional model is compared to current food consumption in Ethiopia. This updated Stigler diet shows how cost minimization relates to utility maximization, and links to ongoing research and policy debates about the affordability of healthy diets worldwide.