Buying Vegan Groceries Is Not "Too Expensive"

For anyone who still believes eating vegan or plant-based is too expensive, here's a meal plan for a full day of hearty vegan eating. This is no barebones menu, it's a fully-packed and nutritious example of typical vegan meals. I could go on and on about how eating vegan is not more expensive than other diets, but I think you'd be best served by an example. Of course you could eat even cheaper than this, but I wanted to provide something that looked realistic and well-rounded. I hope you find this helpful!

Typical Vegans, Eating Their Vegan Food

Chia Raisin Oatmeal and Fruit	Protein	Fat	Carbs	kcal
1 cup oats (regular or quick, dry measure)	10.7	5.3	46.7	307
1 tbsp chia seeds	1.7	3.1	0.8	49
2 tbsp raisins	0.6	0	13.6	54
0.5 cup unsweetened, unfortified soymilk	4.5	2.3	0.5	50
0.5 banana	0.6	0.2	11.9	53
1 orange	1.2	0.2	12.3	62

Baked Sweet Potato with Lentil Salad	Protein	Fat	Carbs	kcal
2 medium sweet potatoes (about 300g)	6	0.5	52.2	270
0.5 cup green lentils (cooked measure)	10	1	20	150
0.5 medium avocado	1.3	10.5	1.3	114
1 tbsp sunflower seeds	1.8	4.5	1	51
1 oz arugula, raw	0.7	0.2	0.6	7

Beans & Rice with Steamed Kale	Protein	Fat	Carbs	kcal
2 cups rice (cooked measure)	8.5	0.9	87.9	411
1 can black beans, rinsed	22.6	1.7	42.8	385
0.5 cup kale, cooked	1.7	0.7	0.8	21
1 rounded tbsp nutritional yeast	3.5	0.5	1.5	30
1 tbsp sesame seeds	1.9	5.7	0	59
tamari, to taste	0	0	0	0

Peanut Butter Sandwich	Protein	Fat	Carbs	kcal
2 slices wholewheat bread	8.6	1.9	39.7	218
3 tbsp peanut butter	10.7	24.8	8.4	289
0.5 banana	0.6	0.2	11.9	53

Total	Protein	Fat	Carbs	kcal
	97.5	64	354*	2632

*Value for net carbs. Total carbs are 436g including 82g of fiber.

Looks pretty tasty (especially while procrastinating on dinner while I write this!). Now I'll save you the trouble crunching the numbers on the grocery bill. Let's imagine you eat roughly the same amount of food each day and you're able to get some but not all bulk prices while shopping. I'll break the totals down into organic and conventionally grown produce, since eating organic is a separate choice from eating plant-based. I tend to observe conventional groceries being about 40% cheaper than organic, so I'll write down the cost of organic in the table and then estimate a comparable price for conventional.

Don't Mind Me, Just Heading out on My Yearly Grocery Trip...

Groceries	Annual cost
Soymilk	$90.55
Bread	$182.04
Oats	$108.77
Rice	$217.78
Beans	$317.55
Lentils	$70.00
Sweet Potatoes	$229.04
Bananas	$69.35
Oranges	$288.35
Kale	$363.78
Peanut Butter	$144.70
Avocados	$182.5
Arugula	$363.78
Raisins	$47.45
Chia Seeds	$32.36
Sesame Seeds	$35.71
Sunflower Seeds	$33.12
Nutritional Yeast	$73.20

Grown	Total
Organic	$2,850.03
Conventional (~)	$1,800

Really not too bad! Would you say you spend more, or less on groceries? How were your grocery hauls affected after switching to vegan meals? As always, let me know what you think in the comments below.