Healthy You, Happy Wallet

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Did you check out my previous post on "Top Ten Reasons to Eat More Plants - #2 Beans are Cheaper than Meat?" If so, you saw that focusing your diet on plant-based proteins can actually keep your grocery bill stable, and most likely will save you money! There are a few more considerations to be mindful of to help control a sneaking grocery bill when eating plant-based, particularly as you start to stock your cabinets with a few new ingredients and more fruits and veggies.

  • Focus on whole foods. With omnivore eating, oftentimes, the more processed it is, the cheaper it is because there are generally fillers and such added. Not so much with vegan products. Oftentimes, the more processed it is, the pricier it is. The latest and greatest in specialty products like cheeses, milks, faux meats, and snack products can sneak up your grocery bill pretty generously. Make these occasional purchases, prioritize as you find your favorites, or find ways to make similar versions at home!

  • Organic foods (if you weren’t already leaning organic) in general can up your produce costs and this can include foods beyond produce, like with nuts, nut butters, flours, and more. When you can, organic is always preferred, in my book, but here are a couple of great resources to help you prioritize what products to be sure to buy organic and which you could be more lenient on to save money:

  • Focus on the freshest food sources. Particularly from sources like the Santa Barbara Farmer’s Market and produce stands like Mesa Produce as they can be great ways to scope out some more affordable options and spend local! This can also help you separate out some of your fresh and shelf food shopping sources. By separating these out a bit, you have the opportunity to plan your more perishable purchases by weekly or bi-weekly buys and less perishable items as monthly stock ups from resources like Thrive Market or Amazon online or locally like Costco, or grocery store bulk bins where you can get more for lower prices to help you save some pennies. Trader Joe's is great too for stocking up on canned foods, for instance, because their prices can be so reasonable. Bulk buys can work well for products like beans, baking supplies, plant-based milks, grains, oats, cereals, nuts, herbs, spices, and condiments. It may take a bit of research and strategizing up front, but can be well worth the effort.

  • Consider the cost savings of preparing meals and eating at home. You may see your grocery bill sneak up a bit as you transition to more home-cookin', but the more you cook at home, the less you spend eating out, right? I've found that we generally eat out much less eating plant-based for a few reasons:

    1. I can better control the ingredients.

    2. I enjoy cooking so much more than I did as an omnivore! 

    3. There are generally less options eating out. While there are many great options locally, there are still of course less options on the menus of most restaurants than for meat-eating folk. And sometimes it's just plain easier and more fun to find ways to recreate old favorites, plant-based style!

  • Planning ahead can be a huge help. I totally understand that this is not always easy (this continues to be a personal goal of mine!), but building a list and prioritizing and planning your purchases can be huge as to avoid over-filling on foods you don’t need but just sound good in the moment. I’ve also found plant-based meal plans that are particularly mindful of cost. I’ve participated in meal plans like Meal Mentor by Happy Herbivore Lindsay S. Nixon on and off over the years and Meal Mentor in particular designs their menus with cost and efficiency in mind and to be shop-able at Trader Joe’s. There are several other options too and these can be awesome for building your recipe file in transitioning to more plant-based meals and help you keep a tighter handle on your grocery bill as you get a feel for what you like (note, most meal plans have a small monthly or annual cost associated). Here are a few to check out:

I hope these two partnered-posts on plant-centered shopping have helped ease some of fears you may have about overspending to eat healthier delicious plant-focused meals! Yes, you may have to pay a bit more for almond milk in your latte at your local coffee counter (although hopefully this will change someday!), but the health investment and general potential for cost savings make focusing on plant-based foods super worthwhile!

Top 10 Reasons to Eat More Plants - #2 Beans are Cheaper than Meat

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A pretty solid misconception about plant-based eating is that it’s super expensive. Sure, it can be if perhaps you load up on specialty products and pricier “super foods” and only shop at health food stores. But when you reflect on what your cart currently looks like at the grocery store with the cost of keeping stocked on meat, poultry, fish, dairy, and eggs, eating plant-based can actually oftentimes pretty solidly save you money.

Eating plant-based has never seemed to be the source of an unusually high grocery bill for me. Admittedly though, it’s been several years since I included animal-based products in my shopping list and my family has grown since going plant-based. I did a bit of consumer sleuthing at a local Trader Joe’s and Vons to see how switching from animal-based to plant-based proteins really compares, particularly at more mainstream stores.

Here’s what I found, friends:

Trader Joe's at Milpas Canned Beans Display

Trader Joe's at Milpas Canned Beans Display

  • Animal Proteins:  $1.99 - $16.99/lb (approximately)
    Vons meats (from non-organic, value-pack chicken all the way up to grass-fed beef and seafood) in general seemed to range between $1.99/lb to around $16.99 lb. At Trader Joe’s, their animal-based variety ranged from $3.49/lb - $14.99/lb. Specialty animal proteins like organic or antibiotic free started at around $3.49/lb at both stores.
  • Plant Based Proteins:  $0.82 - $11.98/lb (approximately)
    On the other hand, canned beans at Trader Joe’s ranged from $.79 to $.99 for 15.5 oz cans (depending on whether the beans were organic). If you want to compare exact pound for pound, this is approximately $.82 to $1.02 per pound. Vons’ beans varied between $.99 for a 15.5 oz can for non-organic, club special pricing, and up to $1.99 for same size but organic. And these amounts could even go down if you choose to buy dried beans and soak them yourself. Tofu ranged from $1.49 - $1.99 for just under one pound and tempeh came to $3.98 for a total of one pound (two packs). If you want to compare more “meaty” alternatives, vegan Italian sausages were both $3.98/lb whether Tofurky or the Trader Joe’s brand (although sold in slightly smaller quantities). Vons carried a Tofurky Kielbasa vegan sausage that was slightly higher at $5.14/lb (also sold in slightly smaller quantities) and the Beyond Meat “The Beyond Burger” Plant-Based Burger Patties were the priciest at $11.98/lb (sold in 8 oz packages).

Cost of a plant-based diet can seem like a deterrent before you go for it, but it really depends on what your habits are now and what choices you make. In general, though, switching to bean based proteins should save you money. So great! This handy-dandy chart from the Physician's Committee for Responsible Medicine also takes a look at the difference between eating beans versus beef and goes a step further to demonstrate how nutritionally they compare.

Just to reiterate, this is purely my own consumer research, on this given day in time, but the healthiest plant-based proteins, those that I eat most regularly – beans, tofu, and tempeh - are all on the lower end of the pricing (but not quality!) scale and generally cheaper than most of the animal-based proteins. You can absolutely keep your grocery bill stable or see it lower eating more plant-based. Putting beans in your enchiladas or mushed into a homemade burger, scrambling your tofu or tossing it in your stir fry, roasting your chickpeas, grilling up some tempeh for your sandwich, or making your bacon from tempeh all bring health benefits and can also keep your pocket book happy. So load up on protein from plants!

And while the meat to bean transition is the primary focus here, it's important to keep in mind that protein is in soooo many plant foods! It's everywhere! If you're eating a calorically appropriate diet with a variety of plant-based foods, protein should not be an issue. And make your protein choices work harder for you. Rather than thinking about how your protein can get you protein, think about how your protein can also get you fiber and a host of other vitamins and nutrients. By increasing the efficiency and nutrient density of your food choices through plant-based proteins, you benefit from a range of health (and cost saving!) perks and don't have to worry about things you don't need like added cholesterol. I love this article by Plant-Based Dietician Julieanna Heaver that outlines why you need not fret about protein on a plant-based diet with ideas for thinking more broadly about protein sources, like broccoli, oats, pasta, brown rice, and more:

5 Reasons You Can Stop Pursuing Protein and Start Focusing on Food 
by Julieanna Heaver

HEALTHY YOU FACT: 

DID YOU KNOW THAT YOUR BODY PRODUCES ALL THE CHOLESTEROL YOU NEED? YOU ACTUALLY DON'T NEED DIETARY CHOLESTEROL FROM ANIMAL-BASED PROTEINS IN YOUR DIET, WHICH CAN SEND YOUR CHOLESTEROL LEVELS INTO OVERDRIVE.
 
KEEP YOUR PROTEIN WHOLE FOOD, 
PLANT-BASED FOR HEALTHIER FATS WITHOUT THE DIETARY CHOLESTEROL!

Hungry for more grocery tips? Keep an eye out for an upcoming post with a few more ideas for mindful grocery shopping to help keep your wallet happy while transitioning to more plant-centered eating!