I disagree, fast food is more expensive. Even in places like Whole Foods, it is cheaper than buying something like McDonald's. The area I live in has the highest cost of living compared to almost everywhere else in the country.
Go to a place like Sam's Club, or other big box stores, and you will get food in bulk. Some garbage like a single big mac meal is over $10, when you can buy a lot of ground beef and make hamburgers for a whole family for much cheaper. The problem is people are lazy and want to have their food readily made for them. I go shopping almost every two weeks, so I know.
The cost of fast food hamburgers has jumped over 54% in the last decade, and it is toxic for you to boot:
https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2018-12-03/fast-food-hailed-as-cheap-and-speedy-isn-t-such-a-steal-today
You are probably right.
I was paying 10-15$ at BK for one meal in Hyannis, as Marthas did not even have large franchise Fast Foods (quite interesting place, good wages for seasonal work as a student (really nice tips), but the prices were nuts) xD. With that $15 I could probably scrape something up.
The thing is while the article you share says the prices of Fast Food have gone up by as much as 50%, it explicitly states its about the prices of non dollar (ie non low cost) menus.
As a vegetarian just the romaine lettuce was like $8 for 340 grams (12 oz), with the cheese (Parmesan) $5 for ~200g (8oz)... But the salad... at least Balkan style has a lot of ingredients that just add to the cost. So far, $13 for two salads with just those basic ingredients... with more ingredients the cost would be maybe $15+ or $20 to add some add-ons. Example: $9 for 8oz of feta... This is the healthy option imo. You could probably save money eating pasta, but who eats pasta more than 2-3 times a week over a longer stretch of time, and how healthy is it anyway(?).
Was it cheaper than the options? Sure going to a local non franchised fast food could set you back $20-30 minimum for the cheaper places. And you do not get the dollar menu options even at the cheapest places.
Given all that, it must be said that Martha's/Cape Cod is a very fringe example. Touristic place and all.
But compare this to a metropolis like Prague. I could swear the prices for healthy vegetarian options were sometimes even cheaper than N Macedonia (including certified high quality imports)(excluding some greens). Sounds insane, but just what I experienced.
All that said, you are absolutely right. Personal responsibility above all, and that has a lot to do with culture/upbringing/family values.
But relatively speaking I find it easier to eat healthy in Europe. Maybe I am hopelessly biased. That said props to the Mid West, their prices/options for eating healthy were amazing.
Edit since I just read your second post: Never disputed it is cheaper to cook yourself, its a no brainer, since you are paying for labor, delivery, markups and what not when you order, or eat in.
As for shopping yeah. I used to shop maybe every 3-4 days in Prague, where I lived for the first 5-6 months of 2020, I could scrape by spending 40-60 Euros every 3-4 days on groceries. Occasionally ordering delivery.
Right now I live in N Macedonia so seldom I am the one doing the shopping. Eat out far more. A thing I noticed is that for the same Italian imports, Parmigiano for example, I would pay less in Prague than in N Macedonia.
PS: How do you manage to shop once every two weeks :O ... That is some discipline. I was shopping so often, because If I would buy a lot of stuff like veggies and fruits at once it would go bad before I could eat it.