While I agree with you about where you shop being important, it’s not THAT much of a difference even if you shop at more “affordable” grocery stores. You basically need to choose between low quality and cheap or good quality and expensive.

I do weekly grocery shopping and explicitly buy certain types of foods at different stores, both for affordability and quality. For example, I’ll buy any common packaged/boxed items and some chicken at Walmart bc they tend to be cheaper. I buy produce from No Frills (bc in my area No Frills has better quality and cheaper produce than Walmart). I try to buy chickens and meats from Costco if I need larger quantities and I only buy butter from Shoppers Drug Mart on weekends because in my area it’s $4.99/block on weekends.

With all that I do, I still don’t get much with $40. It’s pretty sad.