Buy nuts and dates in bulk for less than half the price, put a few of them in a small bag in your backpack at the beginning of each day, and the problem is solved.
I'm really skeptical about the nutrition bar industry (and supplements in general).
Alternate solution for the eggs: make a lot of hard-boiled eggs. Store them in the refrigerator. Put three of them in the backpack each morning. Or just eat them at breakfast. Including the yolks adds another ~8 grams of protein. It's quick and easy, and frees one's mind from marketing manipulation.
There is real value in this kind of convenience and it shows because people are clearly willing to pay for it. Yes, absolutely you can just boil a bunch of eggs every few days and take them with you in relatively large hardshell containers everywhere....but when you're running to the gym, going to meet a friend, riding public transportation, running from meeting to meeting at work, going to a concert....I mean...you've got to admit that the RXBar starts sounding better than having $2.
I wouldn't carry hard-boiled eggs around with me either. I do carry small bags of nuts and dried fruit around though.
It actually is solving a real problem. Just not one you may particularly care about.
If people want to know what their diets really need, it usually isn't something like protein or supplements -- it's to stop eating things that contain refined, added sugars and to start eating more fresh vegetables. :)
I don't think that buying a few bags of nuts and dates is more difficult than buying a "nutrition" bar -- it's just a different kind of habit, and one that a person has to actively self-train (rather than be trained in by external manipulations).
It isn't worth debating it too much -- I just find it interesting. I lean towards DIY with food in general.
The average person consumes twice as much as the minimum recommendations, but still far less than the maximum recommendations. If anything, americans eat too little protein.
Also, from the report you linked, the conclusion seems to be "efforts should be undertaken to ensure that Americans consume the recommended amount of protein" and that "The percentage of the male population who consumed less than the estimated average requirement was very low". So, I'm not sure how you're getting to the conclusion that we ought to be eating more.
(1) https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/books/NBK231420/#_ddd0000013_
As a recreational runner I find people are more obsessed with carbs except for the post-run recovery phase, unless when they are trying to lose weight and that is the reason they are running. High-protein low-sugar foods take longer to digest so sate your hunger for longer reducing the willpower required to eat less. They are getting it a little wrong as "low-sugar" is the key part there and more complex carbs will do the same job and probably be cheaper (though obviously an amount of protein is vital too and having a bit extra does no harm).