Virtue PostMortem

Cost of a plant-based diet

Veganism is more expensive

Veganism is a privilege

Veganism is more expensive

The global and regional costs of healthy and sustainable dietary patterns: a modelling study - PubMed

Interpretation: In high-income and upper-middle-income countries, dietary change interventions that incentivise adoption of healthy and sustainable diets can help consumers in those countries reduce costs while, at the same time, contribute to fulfilling national climate change commitments and reduce public health spending. In low-income and lower-middle-income countries, healthy and sustainable diets are substantially less costly than western diets and can also be cost-competitive in the medium-to-long term, subject to beneficial socioeconomic development and reductions in food waste. A fuller accounting of the costs of diets would make healthy and sustainable diets the least costly option in most countries in the future.

The cost of healthier and more sustainable food choices: Do plant-based consumers spend more on food?

Plant-based diets are often promoted as healthier and more sustainable and thus as a mechanism to achieve the targets proposed to mitigate climate change and noncommunicable diseases. However, plant-based diets can be perceived as more expensive than the common omnivorous diets, when considering the expensive novel meat substitutes and also the higher costs of fruits and vegetables, whose consumption is perceived to increase. Therefore, the present study assesses the question: Do plantbased consumers spend more on food compared to omnivorous consumers? Based on primary data (n=1040) collected through an online survey, representative of the Portuguese population, through logistic regressions, it was possible to conclude that plant-based consumers, particularly vegan, are associated with lower food expenditures compared to omnivorous consumers. In fact, plant-based consumers are shown to spend less than all other consumers assessed. Food policies aligning healthiness and sustainability with afordability can deliver a major boost for the promotion of plantbased diets and help achieve the mitigation targets proposed.

Vegan Diet and Food Costs Among Adults With Overweight: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Of 3115 people screened by telephone, 244 adults with overweight met participation criteria and were randomly assigned to the vegan (n = 122; 105 [86.1%] female; 60 [49.2%] Black; 57 [46.7%] White; mean [SD] age, 52.9 [10.3] years) or control (n = 122; 106 [86.9%] female; 53 [43.4%] Black; 60 [49.2%] White; mean [SD] age, 56.7 [12.8] years) groups. The analysis included 223 (91.0%) participants who completed all aspects of the study, including the final diet records. Mean (95% CI) total food costs per day decreased in the vegan group by approximately 16%, compared with no significant change in the control group. The difference between the groups was significant (Figure, Table). The biggest savings were on meat and dairy. These savings outweighed the increased spending on vegetables, fruits, legumes, whole grains, meat alternatives, and dairy alternatives.

Food Costs of a Low-Fat Vegan Diet vs a Mediterranean Diet

Veganism is a privilege

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