This has been my experience when I was growing up, and when I was a student. Food these days is insanely cheap if you aren't going for specific tastes, or if you're good at cooking.
I'm much wealthier now, so I spend much more on food because I can, but if you're really frugal, you can keep your expenses extremely low by simply avoiding expensive ingredients. For example, a single red bell pepper costs $1.50, which is insanely expensive compared to chicken, beans, rice, or carrots, based on the nutritional value. Of course, fresh vegetables are nice, but fresh vegetables any time of the year are very modern invention, thus expensive, and you can easily do without them.
I'm much wealthier now, so I spend much more on food because I can, but if you're really frugal, you can keep your expenses extremely low by simply avoiding expensive ingredients. For example, a single red bell pepper costs $1.50, which is insanely expensive compared to chicken, beans, rice, or carrots, based on the nutritional value. Of course, fresh vegetables are nice, but fresh vegetables any time of the year are very modern invention, thus expensive, and you can easily do without them.