Feedlot diet for Americans that results from a misspecified optimization algorithm

White and Hall (1) suggest that removing animals from US agriculture would create a food supply incapable of supporting the United States population’s nutritional requirements and increase nutritional deficiencies compared with the current food system. However, their analysis suffers from an uncritical use of nutritional values and optimization algorithms, and a highly unrealistic and narrow scenario design. In constructing their dietary scenarios, White and Hall use a linear-programming algorithm that optimizes diets to meet nutrient constraints at lowest cost. This approach is problematic: since 1945, it has been recognized to result in highly unrealistic and monotonous diets if not properly constrained (2), for example, by realistic serving sizes or deviation from current diets (3 … [↵][1]1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: marco.springmann{at}dph.ox.ac.uk. [1]: #xref-corresp-1-1