Linear Programming Method and Diet Problem

Environmental impact has always been a concern for the world, and carbon emission has been one of the problematic issues to solve. In addition to daily travel and the use of electrical appliances, agriculture and animal husbandry also contribute to carbon emissions. In order to solve this problem, our project investigates how to reduce carbon emissions as much as possible while meeting daily nutritional requirements and within a specific budget. A mathematical model using linear programming was used to calculate the carbon footprint of the ten categories of 119 foods. We constrained the nutrient content, price, and carbon emissions of 119 daily food items to obtain the lowest possible carbon emissions. We also divided the study population by age and gender to develop a diet suitable for specific groups (e.g., teenagers, elderly, pregnant) while reducing the environmental pollution.