Eine vegane Ernährung könnte die Lebensmittelkosten um 19 % senken, während eine mediterrane Ernährung wahrscheinlich keine Auswirkungen auf die Lebensmittelkosten haben wird. Niedrigere Kosten einer veganen Ernährung gingen mit Einsparungen bei Fleisch und zugesetzten Fetten einher, und diese Einsparungen überwogen die höheren Ausgaben für Gemüse, Getreide und Fleischalternativen.
https://www.scimex.org/newsfeed/going-vegan-could-help-you-cut-food-costs-by-almost-20-percent
22 Comments
I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2826289
From the linked article:
Switching to a vegan diet could lower food costs by 19%, while switching to a Mediterranean diet is unlikely to have an impact on the cost of groceries, according to a US study. The study compared 30 people who started a vegan diet and 30 people who started a Mediterranean diet and estimated their food costs based on several three-day records of what they ate during the study. The researchers say the lower costs of the vegan diet were mainly associated with savings on meat and added fats, and these savings outweighed the increased spending on vegetables, grains and meat alternatives.
This is assuming no changes in price. However, if the demand for vegetables goes up, so will its price.
This can’t be right, vegan replacements are more expensive. Actual meat is cheaper.
We’ll be lab growing meat in a decade or two and that will cheapen meat.
Main perk of veganism will generally center around nutrition and choice
I love these random studies that are like “eat sh*t, never sit down and keep working bc it’s bad for the heart to sit”
At some point we will get studies on the benefits of subscriber based goods and services…
“Here, eat this food with 75% less protein. Sure, low lean body mass in your 40s, 50s, and beyond will have drastically negative consequences but hey it’s cheaper. Cheaper!! Just don’t fall down when you have sarcopenia later in life.”
In the US*. I’d be surprised if the same is true for actual Mediterranean countries where staples are a lot less expensive.
Especially since they mention that they supply the olive oil and yet still count it towards the total cost of the diet. For the vegan group they only supplied B12 supplements and did not count it (albeit it’s probably a very low amount).
Eggs and beans are cheap sources of protein
Let’s be honest, prices will go up wherever the shift goes. If everyone were to go this way, industries would raise prices. Anytime there’s an article about doing X will lower prices of Y, corporations will suddenly only be providing X then raise prices.
Vegan diets are cheaper only if you ignore or don’t rely on meat, dairy and egg analogs which are usually more expensive than meat. That said, veggie bowls and working with tofu will def get your budget down. Some weeks I rely on analogs because it’s faster to make a meal but now I enjoy veggie bowls with various sauces my favorite being tahini.
Even if you eat meat, here’s a great starter base to get more veggies into your life in a tasty way.
Cook up a big batch of equal amounts of your fav rice type, quinoa, and black, red or brown lentils. Use some base seasonings like salt and garlic then freeze these in meal size portions. Roast or sautee up you fav veggies and mix them with these bowls as needed. Add you fav sauce. Tahini sauce is super easy to make as is Toom sauce which is mostly garlic pulverized into a dip but you can water it down. I like to mix in raw spinach too.
Funded by an organisation with a stated goal of promoting plant-based food. Including direct compensation to the researchers. Be aware.
I dont eat a lot of meat. My partner is vegan, but im not. I was looking at the cost of meat at the cheapest grocery store this past weekend and was shocked at the price. Decided it wasn’t worth it. My groceries, sans meat, is usually less than $50/week. Crazy people pay that much for meat.
Wonder if this takes into account the MASSIVE agriculture subsidies that artificially lower the price of meat and dairy. If these were done away with or redirected to health promoting fruits, vegetables, and whole grains, the gap would be even wider
I refused to skimp on meat and just learned to meal plan better and shop deals better. I also warned my husband we may have some expensive weeks when I stock up on the deals for later, but it would all average out. We spend about $160/week on average. That’s $11.42/day/person for 2000-3000 calories of food. I don’t see that as expensive, but I know some people do.
Not vegan here either, but historically, fruits, vegetables, and grains were ehat the average person could afford, with only the rich and powerful having regular access to meat, so makes sense that going at least vegetarian results in savings.
(I am not vegan, but half-heartedly avoid eating mammals)
One thing people are missing: vegan diets are basically mathematically cheaper, just due to thermodynamics. When you get calories from eating animals, where did those calories come from? Eating plants. Same for byproducts like eggs and milk. But animals are essentially acting as very inefficient food processing. Cut out the middle man and there’s less energy used per human.
> Going vegan could lower food costs by 19%, while a Mediterranean diet is unlikely to have an impact on the cost of groceries. Lower costs of vegan diet were associated with savings on meat and added fats, and these savings outweighed increased spending on vegetables, grains and meat alternatives.
When you know who’s behind the paper from just the title…
> **Funding/Support:** This work was funded by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.
It’s a vegan lobbyist organization that puts out a ton of papers like this.
Vegan is not healthy. Stop pushing this it’s not helping people.
If the meat and dairy industries weren’t so heavily subsidized, the savings would be even greater.
I’ve been telling this to people for a while. Going vegetarian half the time has really saved tons on my grocery bills. I still fork out for milk and eggs and occasionally for chicken or fish, but the meat’s like a once or twice a week treat. Vegetables are not actually that expensive as long as you stay away from the fancy fruits.
Though the real thing that drives up the bills isn’t even meat — it’s processed food. A bag of chips is absurdly expensive. Forget about soda. I feel really sorry for people who have an energy drink habit.
But what about health cost impacts?
The study was funded by the Physicians Committe for Responsible Medicine, an advocacy organisation that promotes a non-meat diet.