People get so triggered when you don't do things like waste money on chips and soda or other nutritionally void items. Yet that's where so many American's grocery bills are bloated

Good for you. Still, food prices, including groceries, increased by unusually large amounts multiple times in the past 5 years. I don’t think the only problem with food affordability is the lifestyle of people who are not you. You are kind of suggesting that only restaurants are expensive, and groceries aren’t, which is simply not true.

In 2020, food prices increased 3.4 percent, including prices for food at home (3.5-percent increase) and food away from home (3.4-percent increase).

In 2022, food prices increased by 9.9 percent, faster than in any year since 1979. Food-at-home prices increased by 11.4 percent. Food-away-from-home prices increased by 7.7 percent.

In 2023, food-at-home prices increased by 5.0 percent. Food-away-from-home prices increased by 7.1 percent.

Food-at-home prices increased by 1.2 percent in 2024 and 2.3 percent in 2025, lower than their historical average pace of growth (2.6 percent per year). Food-away-from-home prices rose by 4.1 percent in 2024 and 3.8 percent in 2025, still faster than their historical average (3.5 percent per year).

In 2026, prices for all food are forecast to increase 2.9 percent, with a forecast interval of 2.5 to 3.2 percent. Food-away-from-home prices are forecast to increase 3.5 percent, with a forecast interval of 3.3 to 3.8 percent. Food-at-home prices are forecast to increase 2.4 percent, with a forecast interval of 1.8 to 3.0 percent.

https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/food-price-outlook/summary-findings