Simple Heuristics as Mental Model for Staple Food Choice: An ABM Exercise

Our model employs simple heuristics as rules of thumb for binary staple food choices: rice and non-rice. We compare the behaviour of fast-and-frugal tree (FFTree) and tallying models to learn their suitability to model staple food choices. The dynamics that emerge from the uncertain nature of food choice, systematic preference change, and social interactions are presented. With some explainable behaviours, we believe that simple heuristics are effective for capturing more extensive staple food choice dynamics.