Is A Vegetarian Diet Actually Cheaper?

Lots of vegetarians love to talk about how there are health benefits to eating the way they do, so we wanted to challenge them: Are there cost benefits to being a vegan or a vegetarian?

To find out, we performed a hypothetical calculation of the total cost of a day’s meals for various eating habits: meat-eaters, your standard omnivorous bunch; pescetarians, who eat like vegetarians but allow themselves fish; vegetarians, who don’t eat meat; and vegans, who don’t eat any foods derived from animal products, including butter, milk, etc.

The following sums were calculated using grocery store prices. While this is just one sample menu and therefore not completely indicative of any hard and fast truth—after all, there are ways to eat inexpensively regardless of your preference—we calculated one possible scenario for how the (organic, vegan) chips could fall:

During The Sample Day, The Vegan Saved $3.50 Over The Meat-Eater

This is one hypothetical day out of many, but if the savings were consistent, the vegan would save nearly $1,280 over the course of a year. We recognize that it’s possible to lead a non-vegetarian life on a budget--and to eat expensively as a vegan--but we noticed one general, interesting trend. The most inexpensive foods are often plant-derived products, like carrots, oatmeal, and vegetable products. Plant proteins such as tofu or garbanzo beans, meanwhile, tend to be much cheaper than their equivalents in animal protein. The cheapest cuts of beef average about $3 to $4 per pound, while lentils and dried beans are generally less than $1 per pound and tofu is less than $2 per pound.

While We’re On The Topic Of Processed Foods…

Processed foods are the foes of a well-balanced budget not only because they tend to be the most expensive, but also because they’re also often the least healthy. This rings true for vegetarian processed foods as well, like soy hot dogs or pre-packaged veggie burgers, which can be even more expensive than regular turkey dogs or burgers. To help you stay mindful of budget and still enjoy a good barbeque from time to time, we’ve included a great black-bean burger recipe as one of the tasty and affordable recipes in our slide show.

View Slide Show

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  • Sitch907

    Wait a minute — I thought the deal with lower-income families becoming obese and having health issues was that processed foods are the cheapest, and that fresh fruits and veggies are more expensive. No?

    • Eileen

      no…processed foods are the easiest, and they are often cheaper in the short run, but in the big picture it is a more expensive way to eat. Boxed mac and cheese, for instance, requires only the addition of milk and margerine…items low income families already purchase. Homemade mac and cheese would be more expensive because you have to buy more up front than you would to buy a single boxed mix. You typically buy more pasta than a single box contains and you have to also purchase a thing of fresh cheese and a thing of flour and… But ounce for ounce the homemade is cheaper. But processed foods are not exclusive to meat eaters…so that wasn’t part of this equation. The only processed foods covered here were the processed meats…like hotdogs…which I would have to agree is a relatively cheap “meat” option if you buy the generic stuff, but is still an expensive option compared to vegetarian protein sources.

      • Anne Marie

        All in all processed foods are less expensive (especially if we’re talking fast food), but this article really only discussed processed vegetarian fake-meat products, which are rather expensive and not as good for you as whole foods. Let us not also forget all the money you will save in medical expenses after years of healthy eating, as opposed to those who live off of highly processed foods and a diet full of (cheap) meat. I believe the money you save buying highly processed and fast foods will be paid later on, in poor health and medical expenses.

        • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

          Hi Anne Marie,nnTotally agreed. The goal with this article, which is admittedly hard, was to try our hardest to keep all things equal (for instance, making fajitas out of different products, but doing our best to compare apples to apples, in a manner of speaking). As a result, we didn’t want to pass judgment on health at this point, so we tried to keep everything as “basic” as we could in terms of ingredients, and tried to make it a constant that this hypothetical person is cooking at home, whether or not all of our readers really would. Basically, this is an attempt at a good eating scenario for anyone, from meat-eater to vegan, and then we compared the prices.nnWhat do you think about how we did? Any suggestions?nnAllisonnEditor

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QXHWL3L7KK4XWFVZ653EVIUCQU Paul Brannan

            I think you should post recipes for what you can. I’m pretty sure that I can cut the cost of the chicken fajitas by a factor of four if I am allowed to purchase the chicken whole and amortize the cost over multiple meals.I spent a number of months at English L’Abri (http://www.labri.org) which I’m told had a budget of 1 British Pound ($2) per person per meal. We ate very well (lots of fresh herbs and home-grown vegetables, full meals with plenty of leftovers) and we were able to have meat at 2 out of 3 meals per day. The bulk of each meal was carbohydrates, which we needed to provide energy for working outside. Generally there were 3 separate dinner meals made by 3 separate hosts, and the vegetarians all ate with the same host. This was because it was more expensive to cook for a single vegetarian than for multiple meat eaters, but the cost was reversed (slightly cheaper to cook for the vegetarians) if we could cook in bulk for both.

          • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QXHWL3L7KK4XWFVZ653EVIUCQU Paul Brannan

            I think you should post recipes for what you can. I’m pretty sure that I can cut the cost of the chicken fajitas by a factor of four if I am allowed to purchase the chicken whole and amortize the cost over multiple meals.nnI spent a number of months at English L’Abri (www.labri.org) which I’m told had a budget of 1 British Pound ($2) per person per meal. We ate very well (lots of fresh herbs and home-grown vegetables, full meals with plenty of leftovers) and we were able to have meat at 2/3 meals per day. The bulk of each meal was carbohydrates, which we needed to provide energy for working outside. Generally there were 3 separate dinner meals made by 3 separate hosts, and the vegetarians all ate with the same host. This was because it was more expensive to cook for a single vegetarian than for multiple meat eaters, but the cost was reversed (slightly cheaper to cook for the vegetarians) if we could cook in bulk for both.

      • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

        Hi Eileen,nnThanks for such a thorough explanation! nnAllison

    • Mjm724

      I think there are multiple factors in play here in the processed vs. fresh debate. On the overall foods issue:nn1) Processed foods can be cheaper in terms of cost. For example – a box of Hamburger Helper Stroganoff will cost you about $2.50. The extra ingredients needed for prep (1 lb of ground beef, 1 1/3 cups of milk) will set you back about $5.00, if you have to buy an entire half gallon of milk. Total cost for dinner for 4: $7.50. To make that same stroganoff from scratch, you will need the ground beef, some sort of pasta, butter, mushrooms, sour cream and seasonings. You could spend $15-$20 on ingredients if you have nothing on hand.nn2) Processed foods are cheaper in terms of preparation time. That box of hamburger helper takes roughly 20 minutes to prepare. People have the perception that from-scratch cooking takes much longer or requires more skills, so they opt for processed. In some cases, that is true: dried beans are very inexpensive, but often have to be soaked or cooked for an extended period of time. Other times, not so much. I found from-scratch stroganoff recipes that could be prepared in the same 20 minutes as the box version.nnOn the fruit/vegetable issues: nnFresh fruits and veggies are more expensive, but you could go vegetarian with canned or frozen for a lesser cost. A substantial variety of fresh fruits and veggies are also not as likely to be available in lower income areas (and more expensive when they are), leading people to choose packaged foods instead. The study linked below is from 2006, but I doubt much has changed for the better since then.nnhttp://www.healthydurham.org/docs/file/committees/obesity_chronic_care/Hendrickson.pdf

      • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

        Hi Mjm724,nnThanks for sharing that study! There’s definitely a lot at play in terms of processed v. not processed debate. The only thing I’d say is that, if you could handle the quantity of making, say, a whole box of pasta from scratch, the ingredient costs could be balanced out by the fact that the meal you made could stretch into multiple meals via leftovers. nnHow do you fall in terms of the vegetarian debate? nnAllisonnEditor

  • Anonymous

    Common wisdom has always said that vegetarianism is cheaper, but I feel like almost any diet could be manipulated to be as cheap as possible. Then again, I’m a vegetarian, so I really don’t know…

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      For sure. For this article, at least, we were trying our hardest not to compare, say, expensive cuts of meat to cheap rice-and-beans vegetarian stuff, but rather to try to keep the meal options on par with each other. Do you think we did a fair job?

  • Anonymous

    LearnVesters,nAre you a vegetarian? What are your favorite ways to save money on vegetarian meals?nCheers,nCaroline WaxlernLearnVest’s Chief Content and Community Officer

    • http://twitter.com/mollywalnuts Molly A-S

      I’m a pescatarian, but mostly cook vegan food when I’m eating in. This is so nerdy, but I really, really love my crockpot that I bought last year. My boyfriend and I ate such inexpensive and delicious vegan meals all winter long.

    • Mel Mason

      Thanks for this article. One major point in the debate about money savings and food choice is the outcome of consumption. Would you rather pay a little extra over the long term for organic fruits and vegetables (which are probably more expensive than what was used in this example) and have the energy to enjoy your life, or eat processed and/or animal foods and pay a hospital thousands upon thousands of dollars for the health issues that inevitably arise later in life? If people survive their heart attacks, stokes, and cancer, one of the first things they do is change their diet. I think it makes sense to make the diet change before this happens. So even if a vegan diet was more expensive, it certainly allows for a longer, more vibrant life. nn

      • Boots1807

        Well, no bias there!

      • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

        Hi Mel,nnMakes sense. There’s definitely a more long-term view in the works here, though we didn’t want to complicate things by doing something like, “$14.65 + THOUSANDS IN MEDICAL BILLS!” because we were worried that that would come off as too incendiary, especially since not all of that science is 100% or full estimate-able. Thanks for your insight, though–good point.nnAllisonnEditor

    • MacNW50

      I save a lot of money by buying from bulk bins at health food stores. Quinoa, TVP, rice, beans, spices and dried herbs are so cheap that way and you can easily buy only what you need. I try to buy fruits and vegetables that are in season, therefore cheaper since they’re in abundance and try to limit my shopping list to what is on sale. I grocery shop once a week to reduce gas costs and spend about an hour a week planning out meals to reduce waste and overspending. Soups, stews and curries are cheap, easy to make and freeze very well. For iPhone and smart phone users there are a good amount of apps around where you can type in what you have on hand and it will create recipes for you.

    • http://www.girlaroundtownnyc.blogspot.com Miss Mary Joan

      When I want to save money, I usually end up eating vegetarian, non-processed. rnI head to the grocery store with a core list that I switch up a bit each week for variety: rn- greens (one of: lettuce, spinach, mache, kale or chard)rn- a grain/carb (brown rice, wheat berries, quinoa, soba noodles or pasta)rn- 2-3 main veggies (bell pepers, broccoli, squash)rn- protien (eggs, tofu, canned garbanzos, black beans)rn- hummus (or make my own, which is quick…and amazing)rn- bread (or tortillas)rn- crackersrn- cheesern- fruit (usually a couple apples for the week, though they do add up bc of their weight)rnrnSo that’s just about nine items to take me through a couple meals for the week. rnI usually stir fry the veggies and eat over rice, maybe with a fried egg on top and drizzled with some olive oil.rnVery healthy and filling. And for lunch or dinner later in the week I’ll put the left over veggies over the greens for a salad or maybe into a wrap with the hummus. rnI could add meat but honestly it’s a more cost and effort. rnWe all know that it’s not only what we buy but where we buy it. I’m one who will go to three grocery stores because I know some sell canned goods cheaper (i.e. Whole Foods- shocker, I know) and some sell fresh vegetables and fruits at more reasonable prices (i.e. most anywhere other than Whole Foods). rnAnd even within one store, there are some brands or types of goods that are more budget friendly. I’m the “frugal maven” (read: cheapskate) looking price comparing EVERYTHING. rnrnBut that also means I’ve got really healthy meals for nights in and extra cash for nights out. rn

  • greg

    interesting, but the selections are not even close to nutritionally similar. calories and protein are way different, especially for the vegan which is very deficient (on an RDA-basis) compared to the others.rnrnObviously eating vegan/veg can be cheaper, but this isn’t really a fair comparison. It’s more just saying that eating less costs less, which isn’t really helpful.

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      Hi Greg,nnFair point, about eating less costing less–can you give us more concrete examples as far as deficiencies? Although getting enough protein, etc is a perennial vegan/vegetarian problem, we made a specific effort to include some sort of protein in each meal, whether it’s tofu or hummus, etc. nnWould love to hear more of your thoughts on this.nnBest,nAllisonnEditor

      • Butterfly1700

        Hi Allison, there is plenty of protein in the sample diet and you did a fine job.nnAmericans are somehow under the impression that they need more protein than they really do.nnThe WHO recommends that 10-15% of daily calories should come from protein. (http://www.who.int/mediacentre/news/releases/2003/pr20/en/)nn26% of the calories in Lentils come from protein. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lentil)nnLentils and rice contains more than enough protein for billions of people in India. No steak, KFC or fish sticks required.

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QXHWL3L7KK4XWFVZ653EVIUCQU Paul Brannan

        You can start fixing the deficiencies by making the vegan option calorie-equivalent to the vegetarian option. As it is, the two options are exactly the same modulo some arguably unnecessary condiments.

    • Anonymous

      I am a meat eater I guess, but mostly chicken & fish, occasionally beef – and in total, not more than probably 4-5x/week across all of my meals. I certainly don’t have meat at every meal of the day like the example provided. The pescetarian probably shouldn’t be having fish 3x/day either if she cares about the levels of mercury she is consuming!rnrnI thought maybe the vegan diet was lacking protein too. Add a big spoon of some kind of nut butter (my choice would be almond or peanut) and maybe some flaxseed to that oatmeal! :) rn

      • Anonymous

        ILikeShoes ! We’ve missed you on these pages. Welcome back. And yes fish 3x a day is way too much mercury. Did Jeremy Piven not teach us anything?nCheers,nCaroline nLearnVest’s Chief Content & Community Officer

      • brittybop

        most americans get more thatn double their protein in one day in fact you only need about 50 grams so the vegan diet is probably better balanced than that of a meat eaters diet

        • Anonymous

          I will agree most need about 50g (depends on your weight though), but for those that exercise, you should have between .5 and .8g of protein per pound. As a runner, I look to get no less than 60-70g per day, especially during higher mileage weeks (~25 miles/week).

    • Steve

      Not sure where your getting your information but there are plenty of nutritionists and research (not to mention healthy vegans healthily to old age) show that a vegan / vegetarian diet is healthy and sustainable.

  • RockLove

    I would kill for a sandwich under $6-$10 in NYC.

  • kodemonki

    i’d love to know where the research was done for this (and other) article. i live in Michigan, and if i cooking these at home, my egs would be about 10 cents each and my bacon would be significantly less than 53 cents, while my fresh fruits and veggies can be very expensive. cauliflower can go for $4/head!

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      Hi kodemonki,nnTo gather estimates for how much each of these items would go for, we used FreshDirect. This is relatively Northeast/NY centric, but it’s a site that lets us look up prices online, and provides a good framework for our estimations. Please also note that some of these items, like blueberries, we found frozen.

    • Anonymous

      Kodemonki, we’ve missed you! Your voice has been absent from these pages for far too long!nCheers,nCarolinenLearnVest’s Chief Content and Community Officer

    • http://www.facebook.com/rachel.peresie Rachel Peresie

      But you’d get much more out of the cauliflower for that $4 than you would out of $4 of bacon.

  • Tiffany

    One of my favorite food bloggers, Poor Girl Eats Well – http://www.poorgirleatswell.com/ has a lot of great vegetarian recipes. While she is not a vegetarian, she often makes non-meat meals out of necessity. She also uses a lot of whole grains, esp. quinoa, as her base. One of the reasons I enjoy Kimberly’s blog so much is because she emphasizes that cheap food does not have to mean cheap quality.

  • Lauren L

    Also, this isn’t factoring the time and effort spent preparing these meals. For example, making your own hummus is super cheap if you cook and prepare your own chickpeas, but is substantially more expensive if purchasing it pre-packaged. However you will spend 2 hours boiling the ingredients plus preparing. It all comes down to what is more important, money or time/effort?

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      Hi Lauren,nnAbsolutely. For these estimates, we tried to consider things on the basis of what we imagined ourselves doing. The hummus cost was calculated via packaged hummus, not homemade from chickpeas. Smoked salmon cream cheese was also packaged, not made. Pretty much, the only real cooking we required for these examples was the frying of eggs/bacon or the prep of oatmeal, the quick layering on of sandwich-making, and the sautee of protein & vegetables (green & red pepper, onion) required for fajita-making. Although I personally love homemade guacamole, we also calculated for packaged guac because we wanted to mimic what a busy working person might reasonably prepare for a day without setting aside major time (or eating in a restaurant).nnHope that helps!

      • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QXHWL3L7KK4XWFVZ653EVIUCQU Paul Brannan

        The best fast food is made in slow cookers.

  • http://www.TheDiabetesBootcamp.com Cheryl M

    Where do you prices come from? Are these based on average grocery store prices, or average restaurant prices? One thing to remember are that many grains are subsidized. Our taxes pay for those subsidies, so as for being cheaper, probably not so much…

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      Hi Cheryl,nnThese are calculated from grocery store prices, using Fresh Direct (freshdirect.com) as a basis for those estimations. Good point about subsidized grains–that’s an important thing to remember, though for this case study we’re looking at how much consumers pay rather than how the industry itself calculates those costs.nnThanks for writing in!nnBest,nAllisonnEditor

    • Guest

      And the meat & dairy industry isn’t subsidized? All farming in the US is subsidized. Grains and vegetable based diets are definitely less expensive from an economic viewpoint and not just a financial one.

  • Guest

    Savings are also consistent dining out. Usually, the cheapest entree at a restaurant is the vegetarian one. n

  • F4radio

    I can say from my experience that eating Vegetarian has dropped my food costs down, although . . . The wife and I do spend more time cooking, which can be a blessing and a curse. Sometimes you just don’t want to take 45 minutes to cook a meal, while at the same time, it’s a great “hobby” and we get to spend a lot of time together. nnWhen we decided to move to an all vegetarian / vegan diet, I wasn’t on board. I quickly changed my mind though. I feel great, the food is awesome and our food bills decreased(not $100, but at least 20 bucks or so a month). One thing we try to do differently though is make original meals and basic meals instead of trying to imitate the foods we used to eat.. ie. We don’t try to make vegetarian replacement meals but start from the basics and make new creations, because honestly, a vegan cheesecake is just not a cheesecake, and tofu is not my idea of healthy living:)nnI will say though that we live in an area that is optimal for finding fresh produce. We have 6-7 Farmers markets in the Nashville area and a great variety of supermarkets that provide unique options; Whole Foods, Publix, Harris Teeter. If done right, you can live a healthier and cheaper lifestyle without to much work.nnBTW, my new favorite foods are Endives, Spaghetti Squash, and Artichokes!!! Who would have ever thought? nnGood luck everyone. There are so many reasons to eat less meat and processed foods. I hope you find your own and make it a great experience!

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      Hi F4radio,nnThanks so much for sharing! Although I will admit that I actually like tofu (oof, I lived for a while in Japan), you bring up a great point. You and OldJeanGallagher are both right that the availability of good produce, which makes it more possible to be vegetarian, has a lot to do with what neighborhood you live in. That said, it sounds like you’ve done a great job! nnWhere do you live? I grew up in Miami but live now in NYC, so when I see Publix I go, “Ooh!”nnAllisonnEditor

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      Hi F4radio,nnThanks so much for sharing! Although I will admit that I actually like tofu (oof, I lived for a while in Japan), you bring up a great point. You and OldJeanGallagher are both right that the availability of good produce, which makes it more possible to be vegetarian, has a lot to do with what neighborhood you live in. That said, it sounds like you’ve done a great job! nnWhere do you live? I grew up in Miami but live now in NYC, so when I see Publix I go, “Ooh!”nnAllisonnEditor

    • Tmag9777

      Try getting a Nutrawave oven…It can steam, broil, bake, air fry etc…in a matter of minutes and the food turns out GREAT!

  • OldJeanGallagher

    Being a vegetarian for over a year now, I can definitely attest to the fact that my food costs have gone down.nnHowever, I’m not sure that this is relevant to the low-income families that some of the commenters here are bringing up. While by no means affluent, I’m 25 with no children, and I have a car. I am not financially responsible towards anyone but myself, and I can basically drive anywhere I want to get new and exotic foods, and I’ve got a modicum of extra money to spend on making sure a certain product did not contribute as much cruelty to the world as another product. Not a lot, but I do what I can.nnA lot of the problems that people around the poverty line would run into is a)availability of certain foods at whatever grocery store they can get to, which brings up b) transportation and c)whether or not their neighborhood is safe. If they’ve got a family to feed, cannot afford a car, and live in an unsafe neighborhood in which they would not feel comfortable walking or taking public transportation at night (some people only have time to do their shopping at night if they’ve got kids and an extra weekend job, for instance), then their options are going to be GREATLY limited, and the possibility of them comfortably eating vegetarian is nil. Furthermore, Ralph’s and Albertson’s are actually WAY MORE expensive than Trader Joe’s, which has a few more vegetarian options than the other chains–but there are many more Ralph’s, Vons, and Albertson’s around poor neighborhoods than Trader Joes.nnIn this way, vegetarianism would set them back, which is a pity, because everyone loses–the people and the animals. Sadly, there is a lot of environmental racism at play for these people, and I’m not sure what steps we could take to fix it.nnThanks for the article!

    • http://www.moneyfunk.net Money Funk

      A lot of families in poverty receive junk food from the food shelters. Plus, not just povershed families, but many people do not know how to cook healthy foods. How do you prepare celery root? or beets? It’s not part of our SAD. And sadly, fast food joints offer $1 menus extremely calorie and fat ladened. rnrnHappily, I’ve seen some groups starting to initiating programs to teach families in poverty to cook and make better health choices. Hope it works! People would be amazed how alive one feels on a better diet.

  • http://greenwindmill.com/ Peter Sharma III

    Get real about nutrition. Comments regarding the RDA for protein, promote a common falsity. One’s body uses fat, sugar, and amino acids. Protein is no more than a source of aminos that you body must break down into the component aminos while sloughing the waste. More simply constructed amino carriers provide more easily assimilable aminos, meaning your body does not have to work as hard to get its building blocks from the food. nnIn the 80s, I spent 18 months eating only avocados and bananas and drinking only water. I underwent blood analysis, stress tests, and physical examinations three times during that period to prove that my anecdotal reports of my health were correct in their positivity. I came through with flying colours.nnSimply put, if one eats vegetable matter that provides a wide amino-spectrum, one needs not a single gram of protein. The protein scam is a big agra con game aimed at selling expensive, inefficient foodstuffs that require too much water and energy to produce, leading to attrition of our precious natural resources and an inability to feed our entire population with equal access to good nutrition.

    • LynnViolet

      Yeah a lot of people have no problems in the short term with a deficient diet. My own experience is that I was amazed at how much more energy I have eating meat than I did the previous 19 years. And how much less I can eat without feeling hungry: average day pre-meat, 3700 calories and feeling hungry all day long; post-meat, 2100 calories and no snacking. As someone said below, eating vegetarian is cheaper only if you don’t eat twice as much as a normal person. But a vegetarian diet *caused* me to eat more.

  • OldJeanGallagher

    Clarify my last comment about people and animals losing: Vegetarianism isn’t necessarily healthier, but less-processed foods are, and less meat options are always better for the animals. Blah. I need coffee.

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      Also, the livestock industry produces a ton of greenhouse gases. Better for the environment, too.

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      Also, the livestock industry produces a ton of greenhouse gases. Better for the environment, too.

  • Megan

    I would have to argue that vegans probably spend more on food the vegetarians. Vegetarians have a much wider range of food to choose from minus expensive meats and fish. Vegans have to spend money on synthetic meat replacements a lot more than vegetarians do. A caveat however is that vegans don’t eat out as much seeing as how they have very limited options at restaurants and therefore spend their money on making food at home which is usually cheaper than going out. I think you need to have 2 charts: 1 on eating out and the other on grocery shopping. rnrnOne more thing. There’s a raw vegan restaurant near where I live and their food is not cheap at all.

    • http://twitter.com/amkade Allison Kade

      Hi Megan,nnI think you’re probably right, that the outcome would’ve been different if we compared restaurant prices. My guess is that raw vegan would be pretty cheap if you made everything yourself (but are you really going to sprout your own bread?), but once you start buying things that have been premade, things start to get really pricey. Good point!nnAllison

    • Britt95roxx

      you dont need any meat replacements as a vegan, tofu is not a meat replacement it is simply processed soybeans i dont eat any meat replacements because most of them contain milk or eggs

    • Risky81

      Vegans don’t have to eat any fake meat if they don’t want to. I agree though that a lot of the cost factor depends on how often a person eats out.

    • Sksasek

      Being a plant based eater, I am vegan by virtue of only eating plants. I find it much less expensive, but this is because I also do not eat any processed foods. Being a vegan you can have a very unhealthy and expensive diet if you eat all the processed “replacement” stuff (if will not call it food). As with any subject, you can skew you data to show the result you favor when you step out side scientific methods. Hands down, it is less expensive today for food and tomorrow in health care to eat a whole food plant based diet.
      http://www.forksoverknives.com

    • Sksasek

      Being a plant based eater, I am vegan by virtue of only eating plants. I find it much less expensive, but this is because I also do not eat any processed foods. Being a vegan you can have a very unhealthy and expensive diet if you eat all the processed “replacement” stuff (if will not call it food). As with any subject, you can skew you data to show the result you favor when you step out side scientific methods. Hands down, it is less expensive today for food and tomorrow in health care to eat a whole food plant based diet.
      http://www.forksoverknives.com

  • Goodfoodlady

    I made a quick review not a complete nutritional analysis and I would have to agree with Greg. The Pescetarian option looks like the best nutritionally and it is not that much more expensive than the vegan option. The most obvious lack is B12 which over time has some serious health consequences. Vegans can get B12 from fortified foods, plant based B12 is not absorbed. I wonder how the addition of fortified foods would affect the above budget and I also wonder at the acceptability of fortified foods among vegans because of the source of the B12 or how it was produced (genetic engineering).

    • Risky81

      B12 vitamins are insanely cheap, as is fortified soymilk. many tofu products come already fortified.

  • http://www.moneyfunk.net Money Funk

    Hello! Vegan here. The vegetable diet can be more costly due to buying organic, shopping at high end grocers like Whole Foods, and just because you want to chef it up (of course, the latter being with any diet). But overall it is cheaper.rnrnI enjoy making batch meals like Indian food and storing individual sizes in my freezer for my work lunches. Salads, yum! As a veggie eater, you eat less heavy/processed foods. So, you can consumer high water content meals. Where as, the normal SAD, you consume a lot of unhealthy fats. rnrnThe other area its cheaper – as a veggie eater – you don’t crave processed foods as much. So that saves you a lot of money right there! I buy a lot in bulk aisle – beans, rice, veggies (no processed food here). And you feel great for it. rnrnOf course, there is junk food vegetarians, but that doesn’t count.

    • http://pulse.yahoo.com/_QXHWL3L7KK4XWFVZ653EVIUCQU Paul Brannan

      This also depends on where you live. If you live where you can fish then the pescetarian option becomes more viable, and if you live near a farm the vegetarian option becomes significantly more viable. Our farmer’s market here has a deal where you can get a box of vegetables per week for $300 a season. Which vegetables you get each week depends on what was harvested that week. I don’t remember what quantity constitutes a “box”, but it works out to be significantly cheaper (and tastier!) than the grocery store, as long as you are either feeding a whole family or splitting the vegetables among a few friends. A diet that includes meat can also be just as cheap, provided you’re not a meat-only-eater like many young single males.

  • Patrick Smith

    Is the sum total of these meals equivalent in calories? Same ammounts of vitamins and minerals? Similar amounts of carbs, proteins, and fats? In order to prove that one diet is cheaper than the other, the nutritional outcomes need to be the same.nnI remember as a vegan eating ALL THE TIME and still losing weight. It was cheaper, but that was probably because I lost 15 lbs over the course of a year. Maybe it still would be cheaper than eating meat if I ate a vegan diet that could maintain my weight, but this chart doesn’t give enough data to make such a statement conclusive.

  • http://www.thetastyvegan.com TheTastyVegan

    It is a real shame that veganism is seen as a fad diet for some elitist, white, middle class group who have nothing else to worry about other than where to get the latest black truffle oil or the most ethically sound carob spread. Vegan diets feed millions of people every day in some developing countries such as India. Dhal and rice can be incredibly nutritious, very tasty, and is amazingly cheap. We’re lucky enough not to have to eat it every day, and have a huge amount of variation in our vegan diets in the West. We need to remember though that meat consumption exploits both animals and humans, and consolidates a position of power for those holding control of this production and promotion of the pervading omnivorous culture. Feminism, anti-poverty, and anti-racism movements have a lot in common with veganism. I’d refer people to ‘The Sexual Politics of Meat’ by Carol J. Adams as a starting point for some of these issues, and to the vegansofcolor website. nnPerhaps we should start labelling bananas as ‘vegan bananas’, and potatoes as ‘vegan potatoes’ to help people realise we’re not just swapping meat for fake meat when we turn vegan. It’s a different way of seeing food and nutrition rather than a simple switch from eating a chicken to the other ‘white meat’, namely tofu.nnTheTastyVegan

  • aa

    Make friends with hunters. Then all the meat is free :)

  • Guest

    how the hell does a chicken fajita cost $7.30? Say 3oz chicken, 1 wrap, a sprinkle of cheese, whatever else.This can be a very cheap meal.nnChicken apprx $2.50/lb = 47 cents per 3oznn1 wrap apprx. 20 centsnnso for the chicken and the wrap I have a total of 67 cents. where is the 7 dollar number coming form?

  • http://www.singlemomrichmom.com Jacq @ SMRM

    I’m just guessing here, but it seems to me that in observing most meat-eaters, they aren’t entirely carnivorous either. Most meat-eaters that I see at work have a yogurt and a piece of fruit or a bowl of oatmeal or cereal for breakfast. nnAs a recovering anemic that doesn’t really like meat much but tries to eat semi-paleo, I can’t fathom bringing our food budget of $100 per person per month much lower just by going vegetarian.

  • Shara

    I did not read this article other than the first few sentences. I would guess no that it is not cheaper. T me this article is ridiculous already because most vegetarians do so for ethical reasons, otherwise then for health.

  • VegHead11

    This article, while interesting, is really kind of mute. I am a vegetarian, but what I can tell you is that someone does not lose their job and decide to become a vegetarian to save money. Being Vegetarian (or Vegan) is a vary personal choice, usually made based on compassion for animals, health reasons and environmental concerns, among others. Technically, if you eat nothing but cookies you are a vegetarian and I have certainly come across vegetarians in my time that are almost nearly that unhealthy. Most Vegetarians are quite health conscious though and try to do things like eat organic, stay away from packaged foods and try to obtain their protein from things like dark leafy greens, beans and maybe some dairy rather than just eating tofu. I can’t even remember the last time I ate tofu.nnThe bottom line is that regardless of your choice to eat meat or not, how much you spend on your grocery bill really has more to do with the quality of food you eat. I assure you, I spend at least as much on food, probably more, by eating mostly organic fresh fruits and veggies and only organic dairy/eggs. Could I eat cheaper? Sure, I could certainly sustain on non-organic rice and beans but I choose to eat good healthy food.nnTo each their own.

  • LynnViolet

    Why doesn’t the vegetarian diet include eggs?

    • Vegetarian and proud!

      Well, it just depends on what type of vegetarian the person. There is approximatley three types. Lacto-ovo-vegetarian, lacto-vegetarian, and ovo-vegetarian. Lacto meaning dairy (milk, etc.) and ovo meaning eggs. So if you are like me, an lacto-ovo-vegetarian, you get both. But I plan to soon take the step to become an vegan ina few years.

  • http://lowbudgeveg.blogspot.com/ amanda

    I am vegan, but it’s true that the foods chosen were not nutritionally similar. Instead of trying to use similar types of food, maybe you should do one study using similar nutrient profiles.nnThat said, I do think that eating a diet composed mainly of fresh vegetables, fruits, nuts, and dried beans and grains is definitely the cheapest one you can eat. You might need an occasional nutritional supplement or glass of soymilk (which is fortified with nutrients vegans can lack), which cost more than animal products, but then maybe you should take the reduced health care costs into consideration. Or the reduced carbon footprint, which can help everybody in the world save money in the long run…nnI’ve started a blog about how to live frugally on a vegan diet if anyone is interested: http://lowbudgeveg.blogspot.com/

  • http://twitter.com/Cimmer Christina Rocks

    Thank you for including Pescetarian! I am one as is in so rare that anyone knows what it is (even as I type there is a dotted red line underneath marking it a misspelled / unrecognizable word).

  • http://www.kaninka.net/snilldur Hildur Lilliendahl

    I think it’s weird that a vegan would have a smaller dinner than a vegetarian. You can always reach the conclusion that a particular diet is cheap if you just make sure to include very little food, right?

  • http://www.kaninka.net/snilldur Hildur Lilliendahl

    I think it’s weird that a vegan would have a smaller dinner than a vegetarian. You can always reach the conclusion that a particular diet is cheap if you just make sure to include very little food, right?

  • http://www.kaninka.net/snilldur Hildur Lilliendahl

    I think it’s weird that a vegan would have a smaller dinner than a vegetarian. You can always reach the conclusion that a particular diet is cheap if you just make sure to include very little food, right?

  • http://monaviemediacenter.com/ Carol

    I’m not vegan but I couldn’t agree more. I just keep our family’s meals balanced. What’s even more frugal when you consume vegetables is that you can grow it on a little pot if you have the space. It’s not only that, when you’re eating a balanced diet, you’re healthier. Thus, you skip going to the doctor.

  • emma

    The vegan meal is totally unrealistic and on that basis alone this post (and its many reposts) constitute misinformation. How many fewer calories are in this arbitrary list of meals than the others? A person who eats like that is going to be hungry! You have to calculate in fruit, nuts, seeds etc. to supplant the calorie needs for this diet. I’m saddened that you think this is that simple, not to mention that the perspective for this conversation is clearly a western (and wealthy!) one. 

  • gigi

    Hahah am I the only one who noticed that the Pescetarian ate 2 side salads for dinner? 

    • Daniel Rosensweig

      That’s interesting.  However, the pescetarian seems to have gotten a good deal, because s/he was only charged for one of those side salads!  Incidentally, the meat-eater is the only one who didn’t eat a side sald, but s/he was charged for it anyway.

      That extra salad was just placed in the wrong column, and doesn’t seem to have affected the calculations.

  • greggT

    There was a study of 2000 people, which suggests that it costs $1.12 MORE for veg than meat: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19296743
    they split the group into veg and meat eaters and kept track of grocery bills.

    still, i think veg is the better option when it is all plant based and uses only whole food, but not otherwise.

  • Sdf

    wow this article is retarded