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Is veganism only possible with enough money?
Replies
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There are entire nations that eat vegan, cheaply. Think of India. For a good part of the world meat protein is expensive and occasional only.
They have to worry about getting sufficient iron and protein but with creativity it can be done.
Our local African immigrants eat very cheaply but the cooks are staying at home, buying their bulk rice and beans at discount, and spending a fair amount of time on food prep.14 -
my sister is a vegan and while single - makes a weeks worth of food for about $25 a week because of beans, canned tomatos etc - so it can be done - would I do it - I could if I wanted
I made a pretty killer barley/sweet potato pilaf that was vegan for $6 and it fed me for 7 lunches with leftovers10 -
It absolutely can be done. In college I got a 5 lb bag of rice, huge bags of dried beans and a packet of sazon for roughly $5. That made enough food for a week if needed. Add in your bananas and oats for breakfast and some frozen veggies and you'll still well under the given amount.
There's no way to argue something that is personal choice though. I may like rice and beans while the next person may not. It's pointless to come up with hypothetical meal plans to prove that it can be done because what I like or consider healthy may be very different for the next person.
I volunteered extensively at a work force education program and all of the participants where on food stamps and lived in government housing. I assure you that I've met low income vegans who get by just fine with their food stamps and are able to prepare vegan meals within their food stamp budget.
It's senseless to argue about personal choices and preference though, everyone will have a different opinion. It's silly to argue opinion because there's no clear cut fact involved.13 -
Lentils, beans, rice, potato, these staples are cheap.
Then there's fresh veg for flavour and bulk - a bit more expensive, but not as expensive as flavouring food with meat.
No... veganism is way cheaper than omnivoreism.8 -
I avoid processed foods and limit eating out because it is expensive and makes it hard to keep the weight off. I eat vegan meals 2 times per day (not for ethical reasons, but because of my family history of heart disease, colon cancer, and stroke) and one meal with animal protein daily (eggs, fish, chicken, and red meat (no more than once per week because of that less than stellar family history). To keep things easy, I batch cook brown rice, farro, and lentils, and steel cut oatmeal. I buy one or two cans of beans each week, simply because I am the only family member who eats them and it is easier. I buy less expensive vegetables and fruits like apples, carrots, celery, cabbage, sweet potatoes, squash, and whatever is in season. We are a family of four and my eating pattern means that we end the week with an empty produce drawer and fruit bowl. You don't need to go to extremes, just mix and match different foods to make simple, healthy dishes at home.7
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In my late teens/early 20s I lived off anywhere form $15 - $40 a week on groceries (depending on if I could get overtime), and I was/am a vegetarian. I found that my diet became naturally more vegan the less money I had to spend because dairy was a luxury item. I would buy my produce at either the farmers market or the latin market, because they would always have sale racks of produce that was soon to expire (usually with the "bad parts" cut off and sold in bulk packs). I shopped based on what was on sale and would make a large batch of chili/soup/sauce with it as soon as I got home, because it lasted longer that way. I bought dry beans and rice from either the latin market or Asian market (plus rice noodles and some other inexpensive Asian produce when possible), and pasta from the dollar store. It wasn't too hard honestly, and I learned fairly quickly how to make the same base items taste like completely different meals with different variations so I never really got bored of my meals. I didn't have food stamps, but I do remember seeing signs at many markets indicating they accepted them.9
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Dried beans, potatoes, pasta, oats, rice, frozen vegetables, cabbage, onions, canned tomatoes . . . I've been vegan for about ten years and I've done it on all types of budgets. When I first went vegan, our food budget was pretty slim so I did it for about $20 a week. Now I spend more, but it's because we have more.
Could someone do it? No doubt. How tolerable they found it would depend on their motivation for going vegan. I never minded it but then veganism wasn't being imposed on me.
I think people who are doing this thought experiment are often coming from a place of still *wanting* to have things like chicken and cheese, so the thought of going without them (and doing it on a cheaper food budget) feels like deprivation. When I did it, I wanted to be vegan. It never felt like a big deal to me.
I don't think veganism is only possible with enough money. I do think that vegans with more money should be sensitive about expecting people who already don't have much to give up what they perceive as genuine sources of pleasure in their life.
I can afford things like vegan ice cream and cheese now so for me to act like asking someone to live on dried beans and oats is no big deal isn't cool. For some people, it is a big deal and no amount of pretending on my part is going to make that feeling go away.18 -
My husband and I aren't vegan but we eat 6 days a week on about $40-50/week (always between $35-60), eating primarily vegetarian meals (no meat cooked at home but we do consume eggs and some fish). We make almost every meal from scratch though and I realize not everyone has that kind of time (my husband works from home & is super skilled at cooking an amazing meal from some dried beans or tofu and raw veggies).
Anyway, I know people who eat similarly to the way we do but rely more on prepared items and strive to do 100% organic/non-GMO, and they wind up spending well over $150 per week for a very SIMILAR diet for 2 adult household. A friend of mine thinks nothing of spending $20+ on items to create one everyday dinner for she and her husband. To me that's crazy, everyone's different.
We do spend quite a bit on dining out (but just 2 meals on Saturday, usually).1 -
If anyone's looking for serious ideas on a cheap & flavorful vegan diet I recommend Kicki Yang Zhang's YouTube "What I eat in a day" videos, there aren't a ton of them but they are excellent.0
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Sorry for posting so many times. But I was just thinking about this and honestly I think of some other eating styles as too costly for the average person. I do not know very much about Paleo or Keto, but I've seen friends posting their meals and can't imagine spending the kind of money it would take for fresh local meat every day and special "keto macarons" as dessert.4
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Beans, rice, veggies and fruit are the cheapest items in the grocery store. Grow a garden! Buying prepackaged frozen boxed crap is expensive.4
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seltzermint555 wrote: »Sorry for posting so many times. But I was just thinking about this and honestly I think of some other eating styles as too costly for the average person. I do not know very much about Paleo or Keto, but I've seen friends posting their meals and can't imagine spending the kind of money it would take for fresh local meat every day and special "keto macarons" as dessert.
Keto would be difficult because carbs are cheap, but at least you can have the cheaper ground meats because you aren't trying to cut fats. Cabbage is one of the cheapest vegetables, but the carbs do add up with that.
Again, popular keto ends up with a lot of substitutes. I imagine almond flour isn't cheap. I eat a lot of nuts and those certainly aren't cheap, although calorie for calorie they are usually better than most meats. But if you can stand Midwestern casseroles made with cauliflower and cabbage instead of pasta and rice, it is only slightly more expensive and no more time consuming than average.1 -
This:concordancia wrote: »You are talking about meal plans made up of substitutes, rather than embracing foods that can be eaten.
Veganism is expensive if you want to eat Quorn imitations of meat lovers' favorites.
Gluten free is expensive if you want to eat gluten free imitations of wheat products.
Neither is expensive if you eat the things you can eat as they are rather than manipulating them into something they aren't.
And This:Nony_Mouse wrote: »it bothers me that a lot of vegans refuse to accept the fact that their way of eating is a huge privilege. It's a luxury really. And it's one a lot of us truly can't afford. Why is that such a hard pill for people to swallow? If a poor person says they cant afford something, they mean it. End of story. It's not an invitation to try and prove them wrong or tell them what *you* would do if you were them. You're *not* them, so piss off.
I do not think a vegan diet can be done on a food stamp budget. Unless you honestly expect people to just eat canned beans and vegetables. I've been on food stamps, and even eating cheap, non-vegan staple foods, we'd still run out of food stamps by the end of the month and end up eating ketchup sandwiches for dinner. I would absolutely LOVE to see someone try to come up with a REALISTIC full day/week's menu for a vegan family of 4 on food stamps that requires minimal prep. And before anyone does, please realize that a fcking cup of lentil soup or whatever isn't enough for a full meal to most people, and most peoples' kids/family aren't gonna agree to eat such bland crap anyway.
Just to clarify, the question in the OP was for one small adult, not a family of four. Feeding a family of four on the stated budget would be basically impossible, vegan or not.
i know, I just hate that these threads always use a household size of 1 as the example. Most people live with others/have families that they also have to cook for. I'm just really interested in seeing if anyone can pull off a family friendly vegan day of eating. I've never seen it done on here.
So i guess someone could just multiply the individual allowance by 4 and use that as the hypothetical budget?amusedmonkey wrote: »it bothers me that a lot of vegans refuse to accept the fact that their way of eating is a huge privilege. It's a luxury really. And it's one a lot of us truly can't afford.
That only applies if they buy specialty foods. What's luxurious about dried beans and grains or vegetables in season? Like I stated earlier, we eat vegan for about 3 months a year and our food tends to be a lot cheaper when we do because we're not fancy about it. You can be fancy about non-vegan food too, like buying organic and whatnot.
even if dried beans and veggies are the same price as say, a couple of frozen dinners, most people are gonna choose to go with the frozen stuff because it requires no prep. whereas fresh foods require you to look up recipes, go grocery shopping more often to get fresh produce, and chop/prep/cook a meal. Yeah, it may be cheap, but it's labor intensive, and that's a huge factor for people on a tight budget who are already busy and stressed and tired and honestly don't give a damn about veganism in the first place.
not to mention, most people would get tired of just eating grains, veggies, beans/lentils/tofu/etc. I know I would. It's just a boring way to eat to be honest. Who's really gonna pick that over a nice 50 cent box of mac 'n cheese?
Judgemental much? You seem to have a pretty warped view of veganism. I've known plenty of vegans who manage to eat healthily on low incomes (no, I don't know how much they spend on weekly groceries, and it would be irrelevant here anyway as I live in a different country with a different cost of living), including some who are, shock horror, single, childless and live on their own (we do exist).
As to the bolded, people who've made a choice, based on their ethical beliefs, not to eat animal products maybe? You do get that for most vegans it's an ethical choice, right? And just because you don't like that food, doesn't mean others don't, including non-vegans. I could make some pretty damn tasty meals with those ingredients and some herbs and spices. But I can cook, so...
/endthread
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I'm not vegan (or anywhere close) but my family does eat a lot of veggies and we can get them really cheap. You just have to do things like hit up the veggie trucks (the trucks the sell off the rejected produce for cheap as we got 60lbs of veggies for $10) and farmers markets. Also as stated already buy dried grains and beans as they take a bit of prep work but are cheap and easy. With two boy and myself a pot of beans is $5 and 12 hours of soak time, which is easy to do over night, and that last throughout the week with other stuff thrown in.
I have no idea if it could be done for $35 a month but that isn't a choice I would even contemplate making. I would turn off the internet and TV first and funnel that money into the food budget first but yeah I've eaten ramen for a week straight in college and it can be done but it gets old.0 -
totally doable if you are willing to prep
lentils, beans, veggies, can be cheap. i do frozen fruit to save on waste. noodles are cheap too.
if you can, grow what you can and can or freeze the leftovers2 -
Well if you wanna load on stuff like Gardein and Tofurky (love those now and then) yes.
If you eat mostly lentils, rice, seeds and nuts with a protein shake and fruits,no.
Been vegan for 5 years, down in Mexico.
For people saying it's boring..I dunno, I do eat similar stuff all the time..but also love to try out new things, but i'm an ethical vegan, this isn't a diet for me, so I couldn't care much about that.
I do enjoy the food I eat, like this watermelon and the curry rice I'll have in the afternoon :P10 -
nickssweetheart wrote: »
I just finished my vegan grocery shopping online at WalMart....
With 34 dollars I would buy:
1 lb lentils @ 1.54 each = 1.54
1 lb chickpeas @ 1.37 = 1.37
1 lb navy beans @ 1.37 = 1.37
2 lbs pasta = 1.97
10 lbs potatoes =4.94
5 lbs carrots @ 3.22 = 3.22
1 cabbage = 1.74
2 bags froz spinach @ .86 =1.72
1 bags froz broccoli @ .86 = .86
4 lemons @ .50 =2.00
7 bananas @ .18 =1.26
42 oz oatmeal @ 2.48 =2.48
2 can diced tomatoes@ .72 =1.54
1 can tomato paste @ .46 = .46
1 jar peanut butter @ 2.18 = 2.18
1 head garlic = .46
3 lbs onions =2.14
1 block tofu = 1.84
1 small jar capers = 1.24
1 small bottle soy sauce = 1.62
Thank you so much for giving your weekly food and menu. Much appreciated, and that was exactly what I was interested in! I know some folks say a vegan diet is possible on a low budget, and some say it isn't, but it's all kind of noise until someone can show some real ideas and/or numbers to show what they mean, you know? Some of your recipes sound nice.4 -
There are entire nations that eat vegan, cheaply. Think of India. For a good part of the world meat protein is expensive and occasional only.
They have to worry about getting sufficient iron and protein but with creativity it can be done.
Our local African immigrants eat very cheaply but the cooks are staying at home, buying their bulk rice and beans at discount, and spending a fair amount of time on food prep.
India is made up of mainly vegetarians, not vegans. They use dairy and eggs in many dishes and drinks. I returned from India two weeks ago and ate mainly vegetarian. The food is labor intensive (I took a cooking class,) heavy on spices and fresh ingredients-many grow their own vegetables. And keep their own livestock for milk.
My sister-in-law has been vegan and gluten free for almost ten years. In addition to those restrictive dietary practices, there's an entire list of vegetables she will not eat-no nightshades, most nuts restricted, ect.. When they visit it's a two hour trip to Whole Foods every few days.
She can well afford the lifestyle and has a nutritionist, ect.
I do think it could be done on less money than she spends, but it's no different than a non-vegan choosing cheaper cuts of meat or store brand pasta-$34/weekly is a challenging food budget for omnivores too.
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I forgot to add she does not buy any of the meat/cheese substitutes. She practices for ethical reasons (and was vegetarian for 20 yrs prior) so has no desire to "pretend" she's eating a burger or hot dog.
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