[tomxor]

Still, it's at odds with the premise. A more compatible goal would be to minimise cost of nutritional value rather than cost of calories. Unfortunately this is very hard to measure, so the best we have is to gauge it by proxy.

[thomquaid]

Did the engineer end up malnourished? If not...

[tomxor]

check back in 30 to 40 years. Also good luck measuring quality of life in the interim, and establishing a controlled baseline.