It's never made sense to me. You can get 6-7 servings of dry pasta for the price of 1 hamburger helper. HH doesn't include the protein, and ground beef prices are outrageous.
I ask because it's always been associated as a poor man's food, but mathematically it works out to be a D-tier luxury.
No, I'm not talking like paying $0.10 more for a box of pasta or price changes years from now. I'm talking $8lb for chicken breast, 2x prices for rice, price increases across the board like we've seen for beef and coffee and within the next few months.
I'm a bus driver and planned on using my small bonus to stock up on staples as summer comes around. But I'm wondering if I need to stock up even more as food becomes even more expensive – if it can even reach the store.
Thought about this because I keep reading about the war in Iran and farmers on the brink of economic collapse – as in they're so broke they can't even afford to transport crops or livestock.