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Food cost by calorie-day

Below is a list of commonly eaten foods ranked by price per calorie-day. Only foods with substantial calories are included.

These prices are from Northern Colorado, USA, in 2024. The equation to determine cost per calorie-day (C) is as follows:

A: total calories (calories per serving muliplied by number of servings)
B: A divided by 2000, giving number of calorie-days
C: food price divided by B

For example, a 5 pound sack of whole wheat flour costs $2.50 at Target. This flour contains 75 servings of 100 calories each, for a total of 7500 calories (A). Divided by 2000, these 7500 calories give 3.75 days of calories (B). At a price of $2.50, the flour therefore costs $0.67 per day of calories.

The cheapest foods per 2000 calories

$0.00: freegan food
$0.67: whole wheat flour, Target, 5 pounds for $2.50
$0.67: canola oil
$0.73: Mahatma Enriched Extra Long Grain White Rice 20 lb Bag, WalMart
$0.74: soybean oil
$0.87: WalMart Great Value corn flour, 4 pound sack
$0.93: WalMart Great Value Jasmine Rice, 20 lb
$1.04: WalMart Great Value Natural Brown Long Grain Rice, 32oz
$1.15: WalMart Great Value pinto beans, 20 pound sack
$1.20: WalMart Great Value natural creamy peanut butter
$1.26: WalMart Great Value creamy peanut butter
$1.39: whole wheat pasta, on sale at $1 per pound
$1.43: Imperial vegetable oil spread (like butter)
$1.54: WalMart Great Value yellow popping corn (popcorn kernels), 32oz
$1.68: Quaker 5-minute grits, 5 pound 3 pack at WalMart
$1.73: butter at $2.76 per pound
$1.76: WalMart Great Value oats
$1.96: WalMart (3 pack) Great Value Lentils, 4 lb each
$2.10: WalMart Great Value black beans, 2 pound bag
$2.25: WalMart russet potatoes, 10 pound bag
$2.36: butter at $3.78 per pound
$2.46: Quaker 5-minute grits, 24oz at WalMart
$2.56: Sprouts organic unsweetened coconut cream, can, on sale for $1
$2.56: WalMart Great Value Vitamin D milk, 1 gallon
$2.91: bulk soybeans, 22 pound bag
$2.97: bananas at $0.60 per pound
$3.54: chicken thighs at $1.77 per pound (WalMart, Tyson family pack)
$3.60: WalMart Great Value heavy whipping cream, 32oz
$3.65: eggs on sale, 18 for $1.97
$3.65: WalMart Great Value quinoa, 32oz
$4.13: Rani Juwar (Sorghum) Flour, 64oz, WalMart
$4.16: WalMart Great Value Cashew Halves & Pieces, 27 oz
$4.37: WalMart Great Value raisins, 20oz
$4.62: WalMart Great Value Deli Style Sliced Mild Cheddar Cheese, 8 oz, 12 Count
$5.62: Bob's Red Mill Sorghum, case of 4 24oz pouches, WalMart
$5.92: WalMart Great Value frozen sweet peas, 32oz bag
$6.51: Sadaf Barley Pearl, 24oz, WalMart
$7.16: Karoun Whole Milk Yogurt, 64 oz, WalMart
$7.24: sweet potatoes at $1.48 per pound
$7.43: italian sausage ground pork
$8.34: carrots
$8.60: WalMart gound beef, 80% lean, 5 pound roll
$9.84: onions at $0.89 per pound
$11.80: WalMart Great Value Plain Nonfat Yogurt, 32 oz
$12.50: Dannon Plain Whole Milk Yogurt Quart, 32 oz, WalMart
$28.34: WalMart Great Value Frozen Wild Caught Pink Salmon Skin-on Fillets, 2 lb

Please note that given beef's insane carbon footprint, I recommend eliminating it from your diet. I only included it above for reference.

Some notes

People can eat for $2 per day
Buying yogurt is 4-5x as expensive as making it yourself
Buying hashbrowns from McDonald's is roughly 16x as expensive as homemade

Fast food

Just to dispel the absurd myth that fast food is cheap or affordable for poor people, here's a list of common/popular fast food items as priced by calorie-day. Note: the below numbers don't take into account the cost of destroying your health.

$11.66: Five Guys small regular french fries, 530 cal for $3.09
$12.70: Burger King Whopper, 660 cal for $4.19
$13.86: Chick-fil-A Chicken Sandwich, 440 cal for $3.05
$15.51: McDonald's Hotcakes and Sausage, 770 cal for $5.97
$16.64: Five Guys Hamburger, 840 cal for $6.99
$22.04: McDonald's Sausage McMuffin with Egg, 480 cal for $5.29
$38.43: McDonald's Hash Browns, 140 cal for $2.69

Nasty.