junk food can't be cheaper than normal food  Sometimes there are sales on something like, say, a 2L bottle of soda and that could make it cheaper than a bag of, say, dry lentils ($0.89 versus $0.99). But as I said before, soda is not food, it's snacky junk nonsense. That's what people seem to be confusing when they talk about "unhealthy food is cheaper": when you throw chocolate into the same group as rice, then yes, a piece of chocolate will cost more than a bag of rice...but per serving, nutritionally-speaking, and satiety, rice will win out every single time.  Dollar Menu at McBeetus will get me a burger for $1...or I can go to the store and buy a bag of lentils for $1 and a bag of rice for $1 and now I have several meals for $2 instead of one meal for $1...and this is assuming they buy one burger. With the standard beetus crowd, it's two burgers + fries + soda for a $4 total for a single meal. Even if they decide to go nuts and eat the entire bag of rice and entire bag of lentils for a single meal, that's still half the cost.