How To Eat Plant-Based On A Budget
In today’s world, there is so much information floating around about dramatic diets, new food trends, and how you should be eating. Finding what’s right for you can seem like navigating a stormy sea with a blindfold on. Here’s a simple tip that I’ve learned that has helped me navigate my body, ethics, and relationship with food: Listen to your body’s needs, unrestricted, while eating a lush and diverse plant-based diet.
With that being said, it’s an expensive world out there. I’ve been traveling the world and living alternatively on a budget for almost a decade now, and I’m here to help you make plant-based eating more affordable.
Is Vegan-Friendly Food Cheaper?
A study by Oxford University debunked the myth that plant-based eating is more expensive than eating animals and their secretions. The study found that a 100% plant-based diet reduced food costs by up to one-third, due to the use of whole foods over “meat and meat replacements.”
Vegan diets were the most affordable and reduced food costs by up to one third.
They go on to say: “When scientists like me advocate for healthy and environmentally-friendly eating, it’s often said we’re sitting in our ivory towers promoting something financially out of reach for most people. This study shows it’s quite the opposite. These diets could be better for your bank balance as well as for your health and…the planet.”
Plant-Based Diet Vs Veganism
Before we move on, I want to note that there is a difference between living vegan and eating plant-based. And there are so many reasons to do both! You may not feel like taking to the streets to demand that nonhumans have autonomy and are not exploited for their flesh and secretions (although I highly encourage you to), but you can still fill your stomach up with yummy, nutritious, and satisfying plants each time that you sit down for a meal.
Eating a vegan-friendly diet not only combats animal cruelty, but it fights the number one cause of climate change and species extinction. Not to mention, there are countless health benefits for the human body!
It’s often possible to eat an entirely plant-based, vegan-friendly diet on a low budget. But not always. Because of how our food system is set up in the USA (and other places around the world), folks don’t aways have access to fresh produce or healthy foods. Keeping in mind that we all have different experiences, resources, and incomes, there are some simple tips that you can follow to reduce food costs while keeping animals and their secretions off your plate.
Finding Affordable, Budget-Friendly Vegan-Friendly Food
1. Get Back To Whole Food, Plant-Based Meals
While plant-based meats, cheeses, ice-creams and specialty products can be fun to try, (trust me, I’m a sucker for plant-based smoked cheeses and chick’n patties!) they can drain your bank account quickly, especially if you’re on a budget and use them as your go-to, everyday foods. Try sticking to the basics. Some great examples of cheaper and easier-to-find foods are rice, beans, veggies, fruit, legumes, and pasta.
Unsure of what to do with them? Do a quick Google search for “cheap vegan meals” and see what you’re able to whip up with these items. The options are endless, though you may have to learn how to navigate the kitchen! Here are 17 meal ideas and recipes to get you started. Looking for more? Here are three budget-friendly vegan meals that approximately cost less than $1.50 per serving!
2. Buy In Bulk or Hit Up The Farmer’s Market
Buy your items in bulk or shop at a farmer’s market. Items are almost always cheaper when you get them directly from the source or in larger quantities. Not only will you be saving some green, but you’ll be saving packaging material and energy used to package and ship goods, protecting Mother Earth as you go. If there are no farmers markets around you, try to go directly to the source and connecting with some local farmers and growers in your area. Here are some tips for buying in bulk.
3. Grow Your Own Veggies, Or Trade
Not all of us have the energy, space or time to grow our own food. Understood. But if you do, having your own garden, (or at least a few plants) is a great way to save on groceries. Save the seeds from your favorite and most commonly used foods or spices and grow them yourself. I’ve created a video to get you started on how to create no or low-till garden beds and how to use materials that you already have to make garden tools. Keep in mind that you can often use EBT cash to buy seeds.
For those who aren’t cultivating their own green thumbs, try to find someone who is. Do you have a neighbor that owns a potato farm? Ring their bell and see if you can strike up a deal. A lot of farmers and growers are into exchanges, so let them know what you have to offer! A yoga session in exchange for a weekly bundle of beets, lettuce, and carrots? Count me in.
4. Dine-In More Than You Eat Out
Although going out to eat can be fun, it’s usually costly. The average price for a meal while dining out in the U.S. is $30 or more for a mid-range priced restaurant. Meanwhile, I often find myself thinking that could have used that money spent on a night out to buy all of the ingredients that it takes to make that same dish multiple times. If cooking is something that you love to do, you may fall in love with preparing new dishes filled with wonderful greens, beans, legumes, and all kinds of plants that you’ve never ventured to try before.
5. Try Dumpster Diving & Hit Up The Discount Grocery
While traveling across the U.S., I would often go dumpster-diving for dinner. Although this sounds absurd to some, we throw away an unthinkable about of perfectly good, plant-based foods. Here’s a great resource to chew on while deciding if dumpster-diving is for you.
If dumpster diving just isn’t your thing, discount stores are a great resource as well. Ask locals in your area or search online to see if there is one or more located near you. You can often find amazing products, including specialty vegan cheeses and yogurts, at a fourth of the normal price!
