I think your point is, when resources limit you, you should focus on a hierarchy. In the case of food, the hierarchy is diet optimization > basic balanced die

I think your point is, when resources limit you, you should focus on a hierarchy. In the case of food, the hierarchy is diet optimization > basic balanced diet food > cost/calorie efficient food > any food > no food. Don't start worrying about the higher parts of the hierarchy until those below it are taken care of. None of which prevents diet optimization while resource limited, but you need to make sure you don't miss some of the more basic stuff.