No one cares that they can buy a 4k TV for $400. We want healthy food that we can regularly afford. That costs $400 a week for a family. These government indexes are incredibly warped.
If you assume a family of four with both children aged 9-11 and the parents a male and a female aged 19-50, the USDA says [0] it costs only $250.10 with a low-cost plan, $314.90 with a moderate-cost plan and $380 with a liberal plan. All three of these plans each support "a healthy diet through nutritious meals and snacks at home" [1] and would cover everything -- no restaurant budget required.
