Photo: Frankie Fouganthin via Wikimedia Commons, CC BY-SA 4.0, cropped. This adapted image is also licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
Going vegan cut grocery bills by 19%, or $1.80 a day, compared with a standard American diet in a new analysis of a clinical trial, which works out at more than $650 a year. The low-fat vegan diet was also 25% cheaper, $2.40 a day, than a Mediterranean diet.
The research, led by Dr. Hana Kahleova at the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine in Washington DC, is published in JAMA Network Open. It is a secondary analysis of a 2019 randomised trial comparing low-fat vegan and Mediterranean diets, with participants' food records priced using the US Department of Agriculture's Thrifty Food Plan. The savings came mainly from $2.90 a day less spent on meat, plus 50 cents each on dairy and added fats, more than covering the extra spent on vegetables, grains and meat alternatives.
Dr. Kahleova said in the release:
As the cost of groceries remains stubbornly high, consumers should swap the meat and dairy products for a low-fat vegan diet based on fruits, vegetables, grains, and beans to possibly save more than $650 a year on their grocery bill, compared with a standard American diet, and more than $870, compared with the Mediterranean diet.
Dried beans, lentils, oats and rice are some of the cheapest foods in any supermarket.
It backs up last year's finding that going vegan cut grocery bills by 16% in a randomised trial, and supermarkets are joining in, with Lidl Germany cutting vegan prices to match meat.
Healthier and cheaper. Vote with your wallet!