Calories are cheap. You can get 2,000 calories for a couple bucks.

Everything after that is preference substitution.

This doesn't invalidate consumer demand. People judge society and ultimately governments based on if they are able to obtain their preferences.

Re: "You can get 2,000 calories for a couple bucks." Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence. Can you please let us know how can you get 2,000 calories for $2?

In addition to what others said, I buy 2 roast chickens a week for $5 each.

Rice is $20/25 lbs, and 1600 calories/lb for 2000 calories/$

They are 6.5lbs after deboning. Cooked chicken skin on is 950 calories per pound. That is 620 calories/$.

Tortillas themselves are 110 cal, and 4.99 for 100ct, or 2200 cal/$

Rice bought in bulk can certainly be had for that price per calorie with some left over for a little protein. I don't recommend anyone follow such a diet though.

I lived off $2/day in food for a few years in the US. Oat flour, protein powder, oil, and a multivitamin.

My approach was a little more engineered than most people's would be, but definitely possible if maybe you expanded it to $3/day or $4/day.

I'm a little surprised you didn't get scurvy, or have bone health issues (because of a lack of calcium or vitamin K2), have electrolyte imbalances, or have imbalances in fiber and essential fatty acids. But good for you. Thank goodness we don't base nutritional advice on anecdotal evidence.

This is the precise recipe I followed: https://web.archive.org/web/20240408162605/https://www.compl...

There was never any risk of any of those things, and if anything the diet proves out the quality of our understanding of nutrition.

Rice, beans, bananas, potatoes. It'll keep you alive but it won't be pretty.

From https://www.newsweek.com/walmart-loses-22b-consumer-confiden...

"You can see that the money runs out before the month is gone, you can see that people are buying smaller pack sizes at the end of the month," McMillon said.

They do need to eat, but they are eating less - and not by choice. They don't have the money to buy what they want to. No amount of advertising will fix that.

Smaller pack sizes cost more per unit!

People think they're saving money that way. They often aren't.

If you only have $10 you can’t buy the $12 pack with the lower per-unit price.

Being poor is expensive!

When you are stressed (because you have limited time, money and energy) you make poor decisions.

I would humbly suggest that you start engaging with more poor people and help educate them. (And I don't mean shouting advice as you walk by)

Poor people largely already know this. They don't need education about it. They need more money.

Apparently my country is technically capable of being self sufficient but people diet would have to change back to the 19th century if we were completely cut off (no coffee, tea, tomatoes, bananas, shiracha sauce).