Decisions are guided not just by expectations of the benefits that will ensue but also by expectations about costs. The foraging choices of animals, both in the laboratory and in the wild, are influenced by how energetically demanding, or effortful, a choice is. The making of such choices depends crucially on the anterior cingulate cortex and an interconnected set of brain regions including the striatum. Neurons in the anterior cingulate cortex are unusual in that they integrate information about several features of a choice including both rewards and effort costs. While brain regions such as the ventromedial prefrontal cortex represent the most pertinent features of decisions in a flexible manner, the anterior cingulate cortex’s representation of choices manifests in a reference frame appropriate for foraging – deciding whether to engage with a potential choice or whether the richness of the environment and expectations about effort suggest it is better to forage elsewhere.