How many calories will $1 buy?

Here's the dollar menu, as prepared by Lapham's Quarterly:

--.67 ounces wild yellowfin tuna steak (28 calories)

-- 4.2 ounces chunk light tuna in water (105 calories)

-- 1/3 head Iceberg lettuce (16.5 calories)

-- 3 ounces Spam (271 calories)

-- .7 ounces Porterhouse steak (49 calories)

-- 4 eggs (360 calories)

-- 1.1 liters Coca-Cola (447 calories)

-- McDouble (390 calories)

Notice that unhealthy food is a lot cheaper - and more substantial - than healthy food? As NYT columnist Dave Leonhardt points out, "you would have to spend about $5 to buy 2,000 calories at McDonald's, $19 to buy 2,000 calories worth of canned tuna and $60 to buy 2,000 calories worth of lettuce." This is why cheap fast food becomes an acceptable - though hardly ideal - alternative.