Procedure

1. Constraint Identification: Use get_user_preferences and review get_user_history to identify mandatory constraints:

   • Financial: Determine if the user requires a low-cost or "thrifty" approach.
   • Cultural: Identify preferred eating patterns (e.g., Mediterranean, Mexican, Indian, Chinese/Japanese).
   • Ingredient: Note allergies, religious restrictions, or specific food exclusions.

2. Establish Macro Baseline: Use set_user_macro_targets to define the target distribution. For budget-restricted plans, prioritize a 2,000 kcal baseline as per Thrifty Food Plan (TFP) evidence to maintain cost-effectiveness.

3. Ingredient Selection via Nutrient-per-Unit-Cost: Use search_foods to identify high-value, nutrient-dense staples. prioritize:

   • Proteins: Legumes (lentils, chickpeas), seeds, ground turkey, and eggs for low-cost optimization.
   • Produce: Carrots, potatoes, and cabbage as high-value nutrient-dense staples.

4. Cultural Protein Mapping: When building meals, swap generic proteins for culturally relevant sources using search_foods:

   • Mexican Context: Prioritize black beans, ceviche, or pozole.
   • Asian Context: Prioritize tofu, edamame, or sashimi.
   • Indian Context: Prioritize dal (lentils), dahi (yogurt), or paneer.
   • Middle Eastern Context: Prioritize fava beans, chickpeas, or tahini.

5. Cost-Neutral Reallocation: Review the user's recent logs via get_user_history. If budget is a concern, replace processed food entries with whole-food alternatives (e.g., replacing processed snacks with whole fruit or seeds) to increase fiber and Vitamin A/C/E intake without increasing spend.

6. Plan Construction: Use create_meal to assemble the plan.

   • Apply "Fuzzy Logic" by ensuring 100% compliance with mandatory exclusions (allergies/culture) while allowing minor flexibility in non-essential ingredients to meet the primary macro targets.
   • Balance the "Social Acceptability" constraint by ensuring the variety of foods does not deviate so extremely from the user's identified cultural pattern that it risks non-adherence.

7. Verification: Compare the final plan against the research-backed "FoodRx" model:

   • Are legumes or seeds used to limit expensive red meat/dairy?
   • Is the plan aligned with sustainable guidelines while meeting RDA?

8. Memory Update: Use remember to store specific cultural protein preferences or financial constraints for future planning cycles.