MathWorks Math Modeling Challenge 2018 (https://m3challenge.siam.org/archives/2018/problem)
Consider the following M3C 2018 problem,
The Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations reports that approximately one-third of all food produced in the world for human consumption every year goes uneaten. As an example, perfectly good produce that is considered misshapen or otherwise unattractive is regularly discarded before reaching your grocery store shelves. The problem is even more pronounced in the United States, where the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) estimates that more food reaches landfills and incinerators than any other single material in our trash. Uneaten food also wastes resources (water, fertilizer, pesticides, land, etc.) used in food production. At the same time, it has been estimated that over 42 million Americans are food-insecure and could take advantage of all of this squandered food, frequently described as “wasted food.”
The challenge is to create a mathematical model that a state could use to determine if it could feed its food-insecure population using the wasted food generated in that state. Participants may choose to use provided data which contain (1) Texas_food_data, (2) Food Expenditures, (3) Consumer Behavior Based on Income and (4) Average Daily Intake of Food.
What mathematical tool you would use to develop the mathematical model? Briefly describe how it is used.
Sample Solution