With the economy in the gutter with no real end in near site more and more people are trying to find ways to save money. While most people know that it is possible to save money by changing dietary habits, there is a common misconception about the vegetarian diet. Most non-vegetarians tend to think that a vegetarian or mostly vegetarian diet is more expensive than omnivorous diets. This is typically due to the idea that that participating in a mostly vegetarian diet requires individuals to purchase highly expensive meat substitutes. Fully vegetarian diets generally don’t supply the full amount of proteins and amino acids that are only really available through meat and meat products, but the average American eats much more meat than necessary.
The typical American diet includes about 80%-90% more meat than needed for a healthy diet. The cost savings alone for this can be substantial. If the average American weekly grocery bill is $100 then the amount spent on meat averages $40-$50 of that bill. By reducing the amount of meat intake and increasing the vegetable amount the grocery bill could easily be reduced to $75-$80 per week, a savings of $20-$25 per week. This equates to as much as $1300 per year, enough to make those concerned with economic worries take notice.
Without engaging in the argument on soy and its protein qualities, suffice it to say that most people who currently eat meat would be healthier to change their diets to include much lower amounts of meat and more of fresh fruits and vegetables, and it would save them money as well. There really isn’t a good reason to object to this type of a diet. Some will argue that the increased amount of money spent on fresh fruits and veggies would offset any savings of reduced meat purchases, but even a cursory examination would show this untrue. The least expensive type of meat purchased in the US is ground beef, typically of high fat percentage at around 25% fat, also called 75-25 ground beef. On a per ounce cost, the average American will spend approximately $0.22 per ounce on this type of meat (5 pounds of hamburger at an average cost of $3.50 per pound). To contrast this with fresh fruits and vegetables the average cost of produce and fruits range from $0.59 per pound to $1.29 per pound, this averages out to $0.94 per pound or $0.06 per ounce. This equates to a savings of $2.56 per pound or $0.16 per ounce.
For a better understanding of this consider buying 5 pounds of ground beef at $3.50 per pound and the same amount of fruits and veggies for $0.94 per pound. The meat would cost $17.50 and the fruits and veggies would cost $4.70, a difference of $12.80. Now consider the amount of meat the average family of 4 consumes in a single week is approximately 13 pounds. At a cost of $3.50 per pound (being conservative) the average meat bill would be $45.50 per week. If this was reduced by 80% it would lower the meat cost by $36.40 per week. Even if you were to replace the meat with the same amount of fruit and veggies (13 pounds @ $.094 per pound…which is really a lot!) would increase the cost by $12.22 for a total combined cost of (reduced quantity) meat and (increased amounts) of fruits and veggies of $21.32 for a total savings of $24.18 per week.
Now that you are thoroughly confused with all the numbers, if you do the math yourself, you will see that it is much cheaper per year to purchase less meat (by 80%). The health benefits and the weight loss would also lower clothing costs, and health care costs, so you not only save money, but improve the quality of life. Once again, embodying the best ideals of the frugal mindset of living on less without living less…in this case live on less and live better and longer.
Don’t be concerned with the people that might argue about vegetarian recipes, there are a number of wonderful recipes available online for free. You might think to expand your culinary boundaries by experimenting with recipes from different places around the world. The rest of the world eats far less meat per capita than do the people in the United States, so they naturally have many recipes that don’t include meat or include small portions of meat and meat products. You might be surprised to find that you really enjoy the menu options that you will have and the ability to change things up a bit from the normal culinary rut that many have in the United States.
Earlier in this piece, the debate on soy was mentioned and was summarily avoided. Many pure vegetarians and vegans will argue that soy is an ample replacement for proteins and while this might technically be true, there are a number of studies that have shown that soy can be unhealthy for humans to consume. In order for us to digest them properly, a great deal of processing and enzymatic actions must occur in order for our bodies to metabolize them. Not to totally avoid this argument, it seems wise to take this into consideration and avoid consuming large portions of soy based products until there is medical and nutritional confirmation on the topic.
For many people, totally eliminating meat from their diets seems drastic, but if you were to steadily reduce the amount of meats consumed over 6 months, you might be surprised at how easy the transition can be. You will notice a great deal of health improvements as well as the cost savings to your grocery bill. You don’t have to totally embrace the vegetarian lifestyle, nor do you have to totally reject it. It is plain to see that the idea of an increased expense of this type of diet is a misconception and easily disproven. Take the time to consider this type of diet as not only a cost savings tool, but also and healthier way to eat and live.