The thing is that such engineering of healthy food is not really needed in developed countries with reasonable income levels.
Yes, if one wants cheap processed food that is healthy, one needs significant engineering.
The raw ingredients that are part of classical preparations are extremely cheap.
For example, in the United States, rice can be had at ~ $0.50-$0.75 a pound, or in my favorite normalization, < $1 per 2000 calories.
Beans can be obtained for ~ $1.00 a pound, or ~ $1.50 per 2000 calories.
On the other hand, bread is far more expensive at standard grocery stores, and typically comes in at ~ $3 per 2000 calories.
The above is an illustration with respect to carbohydrates,
there are similar easy examples with respect to protein/vegetables/fruits that allow significant optimizations as compared to the average diet.
The end result is that (dependent on location) balanced meals requiring a minimum of preparation work out to roughly $2.50-4.50 per adult per day.
As for preparation time, again with some thought one can minimize effort (pressure cooking is one concrete example).
The point is that if people thought a bit more deeply about their food choices and the cost tradeoffs made, healthy food budgets should really be very minimal as compared to far more expensive things, like health insurance, rent, etc.
Most media outlets instead spread a lot of disinformation - the standard "working" assumption is that healthy food is organic, is found in expensive stores like Whole Foods, and that one needs to pay more for healthy food.
A fun experiment that illustrates this point: try looking at the labels of marketed "healthy/organic" stuff at a store geared towards such things and examine the sugar content in them.
And this is why such places get away with ridiculousness regarding their prices on basic items.
I've found that the caloric, ingredient and nutritional breakdown for almost all processed, boxed and frozen foods at Whole Foods are close to or exactly the same as their grocery store counterparts. Nutritionally, produce is produce; so to me the real value of Whole Foods and their ilk are their selection of meats.
The raw ingredients that are part of classical preparations are extremely cheap. For example, in the United States, rice can be had at ~ $0.50-$0.75 a pound, or in my favorite normalization, < $1 per 2000 calories. Beans can be obtained for ~ $1.00 a pound, or ~ $1.50 per 2000 calories. On the other hand, bread is far more expensive at standard grocery stores, and typically comes in at ~ $3 per 2000 calories. The above is an illustration with respect to carbohydrates, there are similar easy examples with respect to protein/vegetables/fruits that allow significant optimizations as compared to the average diet. The end result is that (dependent on location) balanced meals requiring a minimum of preparation work out to roughly $2.50-4.50 per adult per day.
As for preparation time, again with some thought one can minimize effort (pressure cooking is one concrete example).
The point is that if people thought a bit more deeply about their food choices and the cost tradeoffs made, healthy food budgets should really be very minimal as compared to far more expensive things, like health insurance, rent, etc. Most media outlets instead spread a lot of disinformation - the standard "working" assumption is that healthy food is organic, is found in expensive stores like Whole Foods, and that one needs to pay more for healthy food. A fun experiment that illustrates this point: try looking at the labels of marketed "healthy/organic" stuff at a store geared towards such things and examine the sugar content in them. And this is why such places get away with ridiculousness regarding their prices on basic items.