We review Stigler's diet problem, its impact on linear programming and operations research, and we determine minimum cost diets using updated nutritional and cost data. We also discuss how Stigler's diet problem formulation and its extensions have, over the years, influenced dietitians and nutritionists in their search for more wholesome but cost-effective diets.

Let G be a finitely generated group. The Bieri–Neumann–Strebel invariant Σ1(G) of G determines, among other things, the distribution of finitely generated subgroups N◃G with G/N abelian. This invariant can be quite difficult to compute. Given a finite presentation 〈S:R〉 for G, there is an algorithm, introduced by Brown and extended by Bieri and Strebel, which determines a space Σ(R) that is always contained in, and is sometimes equal to, Σ1(G). We refine this algorithm to one which involves the local structure of the universal cover of the standard 2-complex of a given presentation. Let Ψ(R) denote the space determined by this algorithm. We show that Σ(R) ⊆ Ψ ⊆ Σ1(G) for any finitely presented group G, and if G admits a staggered presentation, then Ψ = Σ1(G). By casting this algorithm in terms of connectivity properties of graphs, it is shown to be computationally feasible.