implicit in this method is the acknowledgement that everyone including the poor is free to make bad choices but must then face the consequences of his or her decisions the ramifications of and possible objections to such an assertion have been taken up above in the context of the composition of the prescribed as opposed to actual food expenditures and intakes and they apply here as well see box while dietary requirements are calculated on a scientific basis according to bodily needs the nonfood component of the poverty threshold is not calculated on such a needs basis