I wonder why, then, Europeans move to the US in such large numbers for academic and tech jobs.

They don't move because the food's better. How is your comment relevant to the discussion?

The food is better though, as long as you are willing to try food you are not familiar with.

It’s cool to hate on America. Everything is always better in Europe.

was in greece for three months. the quality of the BASIC fruits and vegetables at the regular local market down the street from where I was staying was on par with wholefoods. It was surreal how cheap it was to eat HEALTHY.

Have you been to Mexican grocery stores in the US?

Almost any ethnic grocery store will do since they cater to immigrant communities that are likely to be lower income. Here in SoCal some are cheaper than others but they're all way cheaper than Ralphs/Vons/Trader Joes/Costco/etc (I don't shop at WalMart so I'm not sure how they compare)

There are also native stores that are increasingly entering into low cost produce like Grocery Outlet and then there are the usual like Food4Less but they tend to eventually move upmarket.