Cost of the Diet: a method and software to calculate the lowest cost of meeting recommended intakes of energy and nutrients from local foods

Background When food is available, the main obstacle to access is usually economic: people may not be able to afford a nutritious diet, even if they know what foods to eat. The Cost of the Diet method and software was developed to apply linear programming to better understand the extent to which poverty may affect people’s ability to meet their nutritional specifications. This paper describes the principles of the method; the mathematics underlying the linear programming; the parameters and assumptions on which the calculations are based; and then illustrates the output of the software using examples taken from assessments. Results The software contains five databases: the energy and nutrient content of foods; the energy and nutrient specifications of individuals; predefined groups of individuals in typical households; the portion sizes of foods; and currency conversion factors. Data are collected during a market survey to calculate the average cost of foods per 100 g while focus group discussions are used to assess local dietary habits and preferences. These data are presented to a linear programming solver within the software which selects the least expensive combination of local foods for four standard diets that meet specifications for: energy only; energy and macronutrients; energy, macronutrients and micronutrients; and energy, macronutrients and micronutrients but with constraints on the amounts per meal that are consistent with typical dietary habits. Most parameters in the software can be modified by users to examine the potential impact of a wide range of theoretical interventions. The output summarises for each diet the costs, quantity and proportion of energy and nutrient specifications provided by all the foods selected for a given individual or household by day, week, season and year. When the cost is expressed as a percentage of income, the affordability of the diet can be estimated. Conclusions The Cost of the Diet method and software could be used to inform programme design and behaviour change communication in the fields of nutrition, food security, livelihoods and social protection as well as to influence policies and advocacy debates on the financial cost of meeting energy and nutrient specifications

The cost of a healthy and sustainable diet - who can afford it?

OBJECTIVE: Climate change is affecting the ability of food systems to provide sufficient nutritious and affordable foods at all times. Healthy and sustainable (H&S) food choices are important contributions to health and climate change policy efforts. This paper presents empirical data on the affordability of a food basket that incorporates principles of health and sustainability across different food sub-systems, socioeconomic neighbourhoods and household income levels in Greater Western Sydney, Australia. METHODS: A basket survey was used to investigate the cost of both a typical basket of food and a hypothetical H&S basket. The price of foods in the two baskets was recorded in five neighbourhoods, and the affordability of the baskets was determined across household income quintiles. RESULTS: The cost of the H&S basket was more than the typical basket in all five socioeconomic neighbourhoods, with most disadvantaged neighbourhood spending proportionately more (30%) to buy the H&S basket. Within household income levels, the greatest inequity was found in the middle income neighbourhood, showing that households in the lowest income quintile would have to spend up to 48% of their weekly income to buy the H&S basket, while households in the highest income quintile would have to spend significantly less of their weekly income (9%). CONCLUSION: The most disadvantaged groups in the region, both at the neighbourhood and household level, experience the greatest inequality in affordability of the H&S diet. IMPLICATIONS: The results highlight the current inequity in food choice in the region and the underlying social issues of cost and affordability of H&S foods.This work was supported by the Climate and Health Cluster (http://climatehealthcluster. org), which is funded by the CSIRO Flagship Collaboration Fund

The rise of food inequality in Australia

This chapter describes the factors unique to Australia that both describe and report on the impact on food inequality. The context for food inequality and the measures used to give an insight are briefly described. Australia is often referred to as the ‘lucky country’. In 1964, Donald Horne wrote The Lucky Country, using the term ironically to highlight that Australia was simply lucky rather than clever as it had reaped the benefits of technological, economic, social and political innovations developed in other countries that were clever. The chapter concludes with a discussion about the future challenges of food inequity in Australia. The chapter will address the following issues: (1) The uniqueness of the Australian situation and how this impacts on food inequality. (2) How the issue/problem of food inequality is represented by government in a ‘lucky country’ like Australia. (3) The challenges for food inequality in developed countries like Australia. (4) What would a comprehensive Food and nutrition monitoring systems that report on food inequality look like