Fair enough. However, there are still supermarkets, and if you know how to cook, you can pick up some great bargains at the meat counter, when stuff is getting near its sell by date and being significantly reduced in price. Plus, you don't have to buy the expensive cuts. Inexpensive cuts of meat, especially when slow-cooked in a casserole, can be incredibly tasty and can be made to go far.
Therefore, as I said, it's much more about education, and knowing how to cook, than anything else. Once you have that knowledge, you can judiciously apply it to save you lots of money, and you'll have little need for buying ready meals and other processed food.
Plus, elderly people have plenty of time on their hands to do some cooking, so there's really no excuse!
Not only that, you don't need to eat meat every day. As a rule, we all eat far too much. You can make huge pots of nourishing soup for next to nothing, using inexpensive vegetables, fresh herbs (which you can grow in your garden or allotment) and stock, and big bowls of pasta or rice for not much money either, so where there's a will, there's always a way
Sure, but cooking home-made food can be just as cheap, or sometimes cheaper, and when you know how to do it properly, it's ALWAYS better, and healthier!
The "group expedition" you mention would be better served going to a supermarket to pick up all the reduced bargains on meat and veg (and other things, too), and then using what's bought to cook proper food at home. You could even do a group buy, and split the cost, then help each other cook it all together.
I've seen that done before, with great success, in small close-knit communities. The main point I'm making here is that there's always a better way of doing something (in this case feeding yourself well), which fits into your budget and lifestyle, if you put your mind to it!
Marco.