I know little about it, but I wonder if it is possible to reduce the cost of food, and so make it available to more people who need it.

In India there are temples that server food to anyone who walks in - some of them are open 24 hours. If you have to feed thousands of people every day, the cost of the meal is very important. One way of reducing the cost is to prepare the dishes with the lowest labor cost per meal - e.g. rice, bread and curries.

I have seen the same thing in Hindu and Sikh temples in the US. On one occasion, I saw a temple serving about 1000 people in the span of a few hours.

I looked at one charities' websites and it seems their costs are closer to $10 per meal, which to me is baffling. I mean most people don't spend that kind of money at home. So my question is, why are ready to eat meals not more accessible to the homeless - is it because the orgs have a high cost or are there other factors at play - like fewer such orgs exist, and are far apart (shouldn't be an issue in big cities at least).