A Nonlinear Programming Approach to Utility Maximized Menu Plans.
Abstract
In the paper the mathematical modeling of food preferences by analytical functions is utilized to formulate the objective function of a menu planning problem as a non-linear additively separable concave function. The linearity of the constraints of the problem permits the use of efficient solution techniques in existence. Such a formulation can yield the number of times each menu item is to be offered in the time horizon of the menu plan, while satisfying the most significant conditions pertaining to population preferences, total cost, nutrition, etc. It is suggested that the actual day to day scheduling of the menu items obtained from this non-linear programming approach can be based on the remaining objective of meal planning-compatibility. Thus in the scheduling phase, one can look at the acceptability of combinations of items. Techniques for doing this are still in the exploratory stages. (Author)
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 1973
- Accession Number
- AD0768198
Entities
People
- Joseph L. Balintfy
- Prabhakant Sinha
Organizations
- University of Massachusetts Amherst