The environmental cost of subsistence: Optimizing diets to minimize footprints

The Science of the Total Environment
Jessica A GephartMichael L Pace

Abstract

The question of how to minimize monetary cost while meeting basic nutrient requirements (a subsistence diet) was posed by George Stigler in 1945. The problem, known as Stigler's diet problem, was famously solved using the simplex algorithm. Today, we are not only concerned with the monetary cost of food, but also the environmental cost. Efforts to quantify environmental impacts led to the development of footprint (FP) indicators. The environmental footprints of food production span multiple dimensions, including greenhouse gas emissions (carbon footprint), nitrogen release (nitrogen footprint), water use (blue and green water footprint) and land use (land footprint), and a diet minimizing one of these impacts could result in higher impacts in another dimension. In this study based on nutritional and population data for the United States, we identify diets that minimize each of these four footprints subject to nutrient constraints. We then calculate tradeoffs by taking the composition of each footprint's minimum diet and calculating the other three footprints. We find that diets for the minimized footprints tend to be similar for the four footprints, suggesting there are generally synergies, rather than tradeoffs, among low foot...Continue Reading

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Citations

Sep 14, 2016·The Science of the Total Environment·Allison C LuengenBen K Greenfield
Nov 14, 2016·The Science of the Total Environment·Alessandro GalliFrancesco Bottalico
Aug 24, 2017·Global Change Biology·Richard S CottrellJulia L Blanchard
Mar 1, 2018·Nature Communications·Abhishek ChaudharyAlexander Mathys
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Nov 23, 2019·Advances in Nutrition·Francesca HarrisRosemary Green
Nov 16, 2019·Advances in Nutrition·Ujué Fresán, Joan Sabaté
Mar 14, 2020·Advances in Nutrition·Sarah L ReinhardtMarcia S DeLonge
Oct 29, 2020·The Science of the Total Environment·Elysia LucasGonzalo Guillén-Gosálbez
Jan 18, 2021·Ambio·Abigail BennettSarah Zoubek
Mar 7, 2020·The Science of the Total Environment·Jingjing YinYaning Chen
Apr 15, 2021·Environmental Science and Pollution Research International·Yuhei HironoSadao Eguchi
May 31, 2019·Environmental Science & Technology·Abhishek Chaudhary, Vaibhav Krishna
Sep 17, 2021·Nature·Jessica A GephartMax Troell

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