Comparing the costs of staple food

For those who are looking ways to penny pinch, here are some useful statistics for you.

How much does it cost to buy 1000 calories (about half of daily intake of an adult - or about 1 meal). This assumes a bag of rice at $23 for 25 lbs, one 1lb box of pasta at $1.25, one 14.5oz cereal at $3 per box, one 1lb8oz loaf of bread at $3, and one pack of 2.6oz instant noodle at $.25. Here are the numbers ($ per 1000 calories), from least expensive to most expensive (the cheapest is in bold):

Rice: $0.56
Instant noodle: $0.65
Pasta: $0.78
Bread: $1.56
Cereal: $1.78

So, rice provides the cheapest calories by a wide margin. Compared to rice, pasta is 40% more expensive, cereal is more than 3 times more expensive, bread is almost 3 times more expensive. Compared to pasta, bread and cereal are about 2 times as expensive.

Here is one reason why Asians have more disposable income for the same income level. Their food is cheaper by a wide margin. Not only that, rice tastes good with just salt and oil and a bit of egg (fried rice). In contrast, pasta only tastes good with Prego sauce, which is quite expensive per jar.