> But what the fuck would you be eating that would cost $36/day?
I think the post Chuck quotes phrases it in a slightly misleading way - there's a link to an NYT article[1] which says the $36 price is for 2000 calories of low-energy-dense foods, not for a daily diet (which the article points out would almost certainly include some more energy dense foods). So it's not a direct comparison of the price of a healthy diet versus an unhealthy one, but of the prices of particular types of foods.
[1] http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2007/12/05/a-high-price-for-healthy-food/
--
"When placed in value-relation to the linen, the coat signifies more
than when out of that relation, just as many a man strutting about
in a gorgeous uniform counts for more than when in mufti."
-- Marx, _Capital_ Voyou Desoeuvre http://blog.voyou.org/