Now maybe I'm missing some cultural context for the price of produce in the US but for €5 per person here in Ireland I could make an absolute feast. Say I make a ragu for 4-5 people, here's what my shopping list might look like (checking prices on tesco.ie):

- Pasta 500g (€0.65)

- Ground pork 400g (€3.50)

- Bag of onions 1kg (€0.60)

- 4 bulbs of garlic (€0.80)

- Bag of carrots 500g (€0.60)

- Celery 450G (€0.79)

- Tinned Tomatos (€0.45)

So for €7.39 I could feed 4-5 people and have most of the onions, garlic and celery left over for another dish.

If I had the budget to get 5 people Taco Bell at €5 a head, I could cook that recipe twice over and have enough left over to buy a half-decent bottle of wine.

I know scale changes if you live on your own say, but that's when you save stuff for lunches, make smaller recipes etc. And I live in one of the highest cost-of-living countries in the EU - is the situation really so dire in much of the US as to be drastically different?

* Onions: $1.59 for 2lb

* Carrots: $0.89 for 2lb

* Garlic: $1.89 for 5 heads

* Celery: $3.09 for a bunch (~1lb)

The carrots are cheaper, and everything else is more expensive but mostly the celery. This "basket" of fresh vegetables is $6.67 vs €2.79 (2.4x). Exclude the celery and it's $3.55 vs €2.00 (1.8x)

Cooking is a financial commitment.

I'll also say the first recipe I found suggested 1kg of pork to go with that much pasta and vegetables.

Once you have a decent set up and pantry, it's not bad. But if you need 5 spices to try a recipe, you're looking at at least a $15 home cooked meal. For one person.