Human
Nutrition for the Hungry:
A 38 Year
Experiment on Least Cost Ration
by Paul VanRaden
© 2025
To hungry people, food is the thing needed most. Millions of people
are hungry because they are too poor to buy more food or better quality food.
For hungry people, the goal of human nutrition is to get the nutrients they
need at the lowest possible cost. When money is very short, good taste is a
luxury. Any money that can be saved when buying food can be used for other
needs such as housing, clothes, and medicine or other luxuries such as
education. Billions of people, mostly in Asia and Africa, still must use half
of their income to buy food.
To remind myself of the needs of the hungry, I put myself in
their shoes. Each time I go to the grocery store, I buy only those foods that
provide me with the most nutrients per dollar. The foods that I eat are called
a "least cost ration" by animal scientists. Since 1987, I have eaten
only the cheapest foods available with little regard for taste. For the past 38
years, the total cost of my meals, drinks, and snacks always added up to less
than $3 per day except when away from home, rare visits to restaurants, or a
few leftovers from family members not on the diet. My costs ranged from $2.18
to $2.94 per day as some food prices increased or decreased and my shopping
skills improved after years of practice (Figure 1).
Daily cost of my food, drink, and snacks increased by 13% from
$2.61 in October 2024 to $2.93 in May 2025 for 2,381 calories for 3 reasons: prices
in Maryland increased by 7%; prices near Orlando, Florida where I moved in May were
9% higher than my April prices in Greenbelt, MD; and my total inflation was
reduced by substituting foods whose prices had increased the least. Previously,
my costs had decreased in 2023 when I found better prices by shopping at Aldi
food store, and Table 1 lists the May prices at Aldi in Florida.
When buying groceries, poor people should remember one main
point. Foods that provide the most calories per dollar usually are the best
deals. Among high-energy, low-cost foods, those having more protein, vitamins,
or minerals should be selected as a secondary goal (see Table 2). At the
grocery store, multiply the calories per serving times the number of servings
and then divide by the cost of the item to obtain the calories per dollar (or
euro, or yen, or other local currency) in your marketplace. Happy shopping and
dining.
The foods that I buy provide close to the recommended daily
intake of most nutrients and average 894 calories per dollar. Several foods
such as rice, lentils, dried noodles, peanut butter, and peanuts provide
>1000. Whole milk with 892 calories per dollar is less expensive than nearly
all breakfast cereals, but the price of $2.37 per gallon in Maryland increased
to $2.69 in Florida because of few dairy cows here. Still, milk is much more
nutritious and affordable than vegetables or corn flakes (which were replaced
in my diet this year by shredded wheat. Dairy cows can very efficiently convert
corn leaves and corn stalks into nature’s most perfect food. Vegetarians do not
eat corn leaves or corn stalks, but cows love them.
Since 1987, hot dogs and bologna have been the only meats
that qualified for my diet and they currently provide 699 and 931 calories per
dollar, respectively. Eggs were $1.10 per dozen in 2023, $3.24 in October 2024,
and below $3 in May 2025 but temporarily dropped from my diet for being too
expensive. In past years > 98% of my calories were from the foods listed but
currently about 80% because I am cooking for my wife too and eating some leftovers
from her meals.
The diet helps you avoid both starvation and obesity because
the nutrients are so affordable, and the standard meals prevent overeating. For
the last 30 years my weight has not increased or decreased by more than 5
pounds from the average of 185 pounds (84 ± 2.5 kg). My weights since 2020 are
graphed in Figure 2; weights from earlier years were observed but not stored.
Breakfast is a rotation between the 2 or 3 cheapest cereals (currently corn
flakes, raisin bran, and oat cereal) with milk and 1/3 cup of apple juice.
Lunch is a peanut butter and bologna sandwich every day but was just a bologna
sandwich for the first 30 years with peanut butter as an optional snack. Dinner
is a 4-day rotation between spaghetti, macaroni and cheese, noodle soup with
lentils added, or rice and lentils topped with margarine and a little spaghetti
sauce. Each dinner includes one hot dog, 1/3 of a carrot, and ice cream for
dessert. Until this year I had a glass of iced tea every day but now drink cold,
filtered water from a spout in the refrigerator door. No other drinks or snacks
are included.
Food values and
nutrients
Costs, caloric values, and nutrient values are in Table 1 for
each food item in the diet. Any shopper can select similar foods and sum up the
nutrients directly from the package labels. However, each shopper’s caloric
needs may differ depending on age, gender, body size, and activity level.
Estimates from USDA are available at:
EstimatedCalorieNeedsPerDayTable.pdf
(azureedge.us)
Average
adults need about 2,100 calories per day whereas my diet is balanced for about
2,400 calories needed for a 64-year-old male, 6 feet 1 inches (185 cm) tall,
weighing 182 pounds (82.6 kg), and averaging 3 hours of vigorous exercise per
week. My actual cost of food for 2,381 calories averages $2.93 per day and
would convert to $2.59 for a 2,100-calorie diet.
Table 1. Foods included in the least cost ration as of May 2025 and calories
provided per dollar.
|
Food |
Price $ / package |
Net size (grams) |
Net size (U.S.) |
Servings / package |
Servings / week |
Calories / serving |
Calories / dollar |
|
Rice |
2.65 |
1362 |
3 pounds |
30 |
5 |
160 |
1811 |
|
Lentils |
1.39 |
454 |
1 pound |
13 |
2 |
130 |
1122 |
|
Macaroni/cheese |
0.58 |
206 |
6 ounce |
3 |
3 |
250 |
1293 |
|
Spaghetti |
1.89 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
3 |
210 |
889 |
|
Spaghetti
sauce |
1.65 |
680 |
24 ounce |
5 |
2 |
70 |
212 |
|
Dry noodles |
3.65 |
510 |
18 ounce |
24 |
4 |
190 |
1249 |
|
Hot dogs |
1.39 |
425 |
15 ounce |
8 |
7 |
120 |
691 |
|
Bologna |
1.65 |
454 |
1 pound |
14 |
7 |
110 |
933 |
|
12-grain
bread |
2.49 |
454 |
1 pound |
16 |
14 |
100 |
643 |
|
Margarine |
1.17 |
454 |
1 pound |
32 |
5 |
60 |
1641 |
|
Whole milk |
2.69 |
3901 |
1 gallon |
16 |
16 |
150 |
892 |
|
Shred wheat |
2.09 |
510 |
18 ounce |
9 |
4 |
210 |
904 |
|
Raisin bran
|
2.19 |
471 |
16.6 ounce |
8 |
4 |
190 |
694 |
|
Oat cereal |
1.65 |
510 |
18 ounce |
8 |
5 |
160 |
776 |
|
Ice cream |
2.95 |
792 |
1.5 quart |
9 |
7 |
210 |
641 |
|
Peanut
butter |
1.85 |
510 |
18 ounce |
16 |
9 |
180 |
1557 |
|
Peanuts |
2.29 |
454 |
1 pound |
16 |
9 |
160 |
1118 |
|
Carrots |
1.39 |
908 |
2 pounds |
12 |
2 |
30 |
259 |
|
Apple juice |
2.15 |
1890 |
64 ounce |
8 |
5 |
110 |
447 |
|
Multi-vitamin |
20.99 |
150 |
12 ounce |
150 |
7 |
7 |
50 |
|
Average /
day1 |
2.93 |
|
|
|
|
2381 |
840 |
1Weighted by number of servings per week for each food
My serving
sizes vary a little each day according to appetite even while my food rotation
remains constant, like clockwork. A trick to maintain an exact breakfast
rotation is to always eat from the cereal box on the left side and return that
box to the right side or, if empty, replace it with a full box. My dinner
rotation is listed on a small paper on the kitchen counter. Just before
preparing each meal, I move the marker (a small cow) from the previous day’s
meal to the next day's meal. That takes 2 seconds and avoids wasting any time
remembering what you ate or deciding what to eat. Grocery shopping is also very
fast unless prices change, causing a previous, higher cost item to be replaced
by a new, cheaper item.
A healthy
diet can provide the nutrients you need at a reasonable cost. Table 2 shows
that all vitamins and minerals in the diet are close to or above the
recommended allowance. Multi-vitamin pills costing $0.15 each were included to
boost my B vitamin intakes close to the 100% recommended. My 2025 diet includes
only one multi-vitamin every day instead of the 2 pills per day that the
package advised. Your diet might also need vitamin or mineral supplements
depending on food prices in your neighborhood and if the foods (such as cereal)
are already fortified.
Table 2.
Nutrients per serving of foods in 2024 and total daily intake as percent of recommended.
|
Food |
Nutrients (g) |
Vitamins1 and
minerals2 (% of recommended) |
|||||||||||
|
|
Carb |
Fat |
Protein |
Fiber |
A |
B1 |
B2 |
B3 |
B6 |
C |
Folate |
Ca |
Fe |
|
Rice |
36 |
0 |
3 |
1 |
|
25 |
|
20 |
|
|
45 |
10 |
|
|
Lentils |
22 |
1 |
9 |
4 |
|
15 |
|
|
20 |
6 |
|||
|
Mac / cheese |
50 |
1.5 |
8 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
15 |
|
Spaghetti |
41 |
1 |
7 |
5 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
|
|
Spag. sauce |
14 |
1.5 |
2 |
3 |
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
6 |
||
|
Dry noodles |
27 |
7 |
4 |
1 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
|
|
Hot dogs |
3 |
10 |
4 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
2 |
|
Bologna |
4 |
8 |
3 |
0 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
4 |
2 |
|
12-grn bread |
13 |
1 |
4 |
2 |
|
4 |
6 |
||||||
|
Margarine |
0 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Whole milk |
12 |
8 |
8 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
25 |
|
|
Shred wheat |
50 |
1 |
5 |
6 |
0 |
90 |
0 |
25 |
25 |
15 |
|
50 |
|
|
Raisin bran |
48 |
1 |
5 |
7 |
35 |
60 |
50 |
40 |
50 |
90 |
2 |
60 |
|
|
Oat cereal |
30 |
3 |
5 |
3 |
|
50 |
50 |
30 |
20 |
50 |
15 |
80 |
|
|
Ice cream |
21 |
12 |
3 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
8 |
2 |
|
Peanutbutter |
8 |
15 |
7 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
2 |
|
Peanuts |
6 |
15 |
7 |
2 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2 |
6 |
|
Carrots |
8 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
110 |
7 |
4 |
5 |
7 |
10 |
|
2 |
1 |
|
Apple juice |
29 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
80 |
6 |
6 |
|
Multivitamin |
7 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
25 |
|
25 |
|
50 |
25 |
50 |
|
|
|
Total / day |
304 |
105 |
80 |
27 |
126 |
127 |
90 |
89 |
109 |
116 |
178 |
107 |
178 |
1Vitamin: B1 = thiamine, B2 =
riboflavin, B3 = niacin, B6 = pyridoxine
2Minerals: Ca = calcium, Fe = Iron
Protein intake recommended for men is 56 grams per day and the
diet provides 80 grams (Table 2). Fiber intake recommended is 28 grams per day
for each 2,000 calories and the diet provides 27 grams but in a 2,380-calorie
diet which is proportionally only 81% of the fiber that USDA recommends.
However, less fiber increases the digestion rate of protein and energy by about
3% in low vs. high fiber diets:
USDA
Protein Requirements in Grams (sfgate.com)
How
much (dietary) fiber should I eat? (usda.gov)
The diet helps you consume less of earth’s resources, leaving
more for others. That is why I have dined on these foods since 1987. The only
recent imported item was apple juice bottled in USA from concentrate imported
from Ukraine, Turkey, or Poland. Food is easily available in America and costs
very little, less than 3 dollars per day. Hundreds of millions of additional
consumers could live and eat here if more of us dine on the VanRaden ration. I
recommend it.
History
Figure 1.
Daily food costs 1987-2025 in U.S. dollars as originally estimated, adjusted to
2,100 calories / day, and adjusted for inflation.
Costs per day in Figure 1 were
calculated from initial estimates of total calories, then costs were
standardized to 2,100 calories, and then were adjusted by the consumer price
index to today’s dollars. After adjusting for the general inflation rate, the
cost of my food is now about half of the cost 36 years ago. Thus, food has
become more affordable across time. Enjoy each meal and its nutrients that help
make your life healthy and happy.
Food items providing the most nutrients per dollar have been
very consistent for 37 years. Most foods in the 1987 diet are also in the 2024
diet. After about 2007 the dinner rotation substituted dried noodles for
potatoes. The breakfast rotation often included 2 or 3 eggs each Sunday, but
not in some earlier years or in 2022 or 2025 due to rapid changes in egg
prices. In 2025, 21% of the calories in my diet are from animal sources and 79%
from plant sources. Figure 3 shows historical food values of individual animal
products, but the ice cream line instead included sour cream from 1998-2002.
Figure 4 shows plant product value history. The lentil line often substituted
dried split peas, whichever had best value. The carrot line instead included bananas
from 1987-1998 and in 2024 bananas almost qualified for my diet with 577
calories per dollar at a price of 0.39 per pound. The historical prices are not
adjusted for inflation and show calories per dollar as originally purchased.
Figure 2.
Historical values of animal products rated by calories per dollar.
Figure 3.
Historical values of plant products rated by calories per dollar.
Examples of
my previous cookbooks from 1987, 2012, and 2017 are in Tables 3, 4, and 5.
Table 3. Foods included in the least cost ration in 1987 and calories
provided per dollar.
|
Food |
Price $ / package |
Net size (grams) |
Net size (U.S.) |
Servings / package |
Servings / week |
Calories / serving |
Calories / dollar |
|
Rice |
0.28 |
454 |
1 pounds |
10 |
6 |
160 |
5714 |
|
Macaroni/cheese |
0.39 |
206 |
7.25 ounce |
3 |
3 |
249 |
1923 |
|
Spaghetti |
0.73 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
5 |
200 |
2192 |
|
Spaghetti
sauce |
2.69 |
737 |
26 ounce |
5 |
5 |
70 |
130 |
|
Hot dogs |
0.99 |
340 |
12 ounce |
8 |
7 |
100 |
808 |
|
Bologna |
1.89 |
454 |
1 pound |
14 |
7 |
80 |
593 |
|
Wheat bread |
0.69 |
454 |
1 pound |
20 |
14 |
80 |
2319 |
|
Margarine |
0.45 |
454 |
1 pound |
32 |
8 |
60 |
4267 |
|
Eggs, extra
large |
1.00 |
851 |
30 ounce |
12 |
3 |
78 |
960 |
|
Whole milk |
1.63 |
3901 |
1 gallon |
16 |
16 |
150 |
1472 |
|
Corn flakes |
1.29 |
510 |
18 ounce |
13 |
7 |
150 |
1512 |
|
Raisin bran |
1.85 |
530 |
18.7 ounce |
9 |
7 |
200 |
865 |
|
Peanut
butter |
1.87 |
794 |
28 ounce |
14 |
7 |
200 |
1348 |
|
Potatoes |
0.23 |
454 |
1 pound |
1 |
8 |
120 |
522 |
|
Bananas |
0.43 |
454 |
1 pound |
2 |
3 |
100 |
465 |
|
Juice, 10%
real |
1.89 |
3780 |
1 pound |
16 |
5 |
80 |
677 |
|
Average /
day1 |
2.28 |
|
|
|
|
2215 |
971 |
1Weighted by number of servings per week for each food
Table 4.
Foods included in the least cost ration in 2012 and calories
provided per dollar.
|
Food |
Price $ / package |
Net size (grams) |
Net size (U.S.) |
Servings / package |
Servings / week |
Calories / serving |
Calories / dollar |
|
Rice |
4.59 |
2268 |
5 pounds |
50 |
5 |
160 |
1743 |
|
Lentils |
1.59 |
454 |
1 pound |
13 |
3 |
120 |
981 |
|
Macaroni / cheese |
1.09 |
206 |
7.25 ounce |
2.5 |
2 |
290 |
665 |
|
Spaghetti |
1.79 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
5 |
210 |
939 |
|
Spaghetti sauce |
1.19 |
737 |
26 ounce |
6 |
4 |
60 |
303 |
|
Margarine |
1.00 |
454 |
1 pound |
32 |
4 |
70 |
2240 |
|
Dry noodles |
1.69 |
510 |
18 ounce |
12 |
4 |
190 |
1349 |
|
Hot dogs |
1.09 |
340 |
12 ounce |
8 |
7 |
120 |
881 |
|
Bologna |
1.99 |
454 |
1 pound |
14 |
6 |
80 |
563 |
|
Wheat bread |
2.00 |
624 |
22 ounce |
18 |
12 |
100 |
900 |
|
Oatmeal pies |
1.79 |
459 |
16.2 ounce |
12 |
5 |
170 |
1140 |
|
Whole milk |
3.59 |
3901 |
1 gallon |
16 |
12 |
140 |
624 |
|
Corn flakes |
1.99 |
510 |
18 ounce |
18 |
6 |
100 |
905 |
|
Wheat flakes |
1.99 |
510 |
18 ounce |
17 |
6 |
120 |
1025 |
|
Juice, 10% real |
2.79 |
3780 |
1 gallon |
16 |
5 |
70 |
401 |
|
Ice tea mix |
3.49 |
85 |
3 ounce |
120 |
7 |
0 |
0 |
|
Sugar |
3.29 |
2268 |
5 pounds |
189 |
14 |
45 |
2585 |
|
Peanut butter |
3.69 |
454 |
1 pound |
14 |
7 |
210 |
797 |
|
Banana chips |
3.99 |
425 |
15 ounce |
11 |
5 |
210 |
579 |
|
Carrots |
2.49 |
907 |
2 pounds |
12 |
2 |
30 |
145 |
|
Eggs, large |
1.99 |
680 |
24 ounce |
12 |
2 |
70 |
422 |
|
Ice cream |
3.49 |
792 |
1.5 quart |
12 |
7 |
200 |
688 |
|
Average / day1 |
2.86 |
|
|
|
|
2220 |
776 |
1Weighted by number of servings per
week for each food
Table 5.
Foods included in the least cost ration in 2017 and calories
provided per dollar.
|
Food |
Price $ / package |
Net size (grams) |
Net size (U.S.) |
Servings / package |
Servings / week |
Calories / serving |
Calories / dollar |
|
Rice |
4.99 |
2268 |
5 pounds |
50 |
5 |
160 |
1603 |
|
Lentils |
1.69 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
3 |
70 |
330 |
|
Macaroni/cheese |
0.42 |
206 |
7.25 ounce |
3 |
3 |
240 |
1429 |
|
Spaghetti |
1.00 |
454 |
1 pound |
8 |
5 |
200 |
1600 |
|
Spaghetti sauce |
2.50 |
737 |
26 ounce |
10 |
4 |
70 |
280 |
|
Dry noodles |
2.00 |
510 |
18 ounce |
24 |
4 |
190 |
2280 |
|
Hot dogs |
0.89 |
340 |
12 ounce |
8 |
7 |
110 |
989 |
|
Bologna |
1.25 |
454 |
1 pound |
12 |
6 |
70 |
672 |
|
Wheat bread |
1.99 |
454 |
1 pound |
20 |
10 |
80 |
804 |
|
Margarine |
1.25 |
454 |
1 pound |
32 |
4 |
70 |
1792 |
|
Whole milk |
3.39 |
3901 |
1 gallon |
16 |
12 |
150 |
708 |
|
Corn flakes |
1.47 |
510 |
18 ounce |
16 |
7 |
130 |
1415 |
|
Raisin bran |
2.09 |
530 |
18.7 ounce |
9 |
7 |
190 |
818 |
|
Juice, 10% real |
1.89 |
3780 |
1 gallon |
16 |
5 |
80 |
677 |
|
Iced tea mix |
6.99 |
1420 |
50.2 ounce |
80 |
7 |
80 |
916 |
|
Peanut butter |
4.19 |
794 |
28 ounce |
35 |
7 |
200 |
1671 |
|
Carrots |
0.79 |
454 |
1 pound |
5.8 |
2 |
30 |
220 |
|
Eggs, jumbo |
1.99 |
851 |
30 ounce |
12 |
2 |
70 |
422 |
|
Ice cream |
2.39 |
792 |
1.5 quart |
12 |
7 |
180 |
904 |
|
Average / day1 |
2.18 |
|
|
|
|
2070 |
950 |
1Weighted by number of servings per
week for each food
Figure 2.
Paul’s weekly body weights 2020-24 as differences from 180 pounds. The big blue dip in late
2023 was when I got Covid-19.
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