Many US grocery stores sell fully-cooked chickens with minimal spicing for about six dollars. These are loss leaders and are often less than half the price of an uncooked chicken.
Grocery stores also tend to bake their own bread, including basic varieties that don't include sugar, for a few dollars a loaf.
Add a can or frozen bag of vegetables and that's a pretty nutritious day's worth of food for relatively little money.
> Many US grocery stores sell fully-cooked chickens with minimal spicing for about six dollars. These are loss leaders and are often less than half the price of an uncooked chicken
An uncooked chicken is about $10-$15? (£7-£10)?
I don't understand the US combination of terrible animal welfare standards, terrible food hygiene standards, and high cost.
The US actually has fantastic food hygiene standards. I know it's a meme with some UK/EU folks to clutch their pearls over the chlorinated chicken wash but it is in fact based on solid science. It's a different approach but not invalid.
Prices vary by location, but generally you can expect to get uncooked chicken here for under $2/lb. I live in a largish city and typically pay under $1.5/lb.
I agree about the animal welfare standards, but that is most definitely not unique to us. In fact, I'm acquainted with one of the key people in popularizing intensive confinement livestock practices in the midwest US: they're German and brought techniques from there to Kansas. Likewise I've seen first hand what cattle barns are like in Italy, and it is not good.
Assuming you have access to a kitchen, you can feed yourself very well at minimal cost in the US. I loathe our fast food culture, but do not underestimate just how solid the US supermarket system is.
Oh grocery store deli chickens. I've made meals out of those things more times than i can count. Gotta admit, i've always wondered about the odd pricing compared to uncooked chicken. I usually go for sandwhiches or a chicken salad myself though.
Grocery stores also tend to bake their own bread, including basic varieties that don't include sugar, for a few dollars a loaf.
Add a can or frozen bag of vegetables and that's a pretty nutritious day's worth of food for relatively little money.