The High Costs of Cheap Food
What seems "affordable" at the store or fast food joint comes with detrimental costs to our health, the planet, and animals
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In this piece—the first in a series—I dismantle the myth that plant-based eating is expensive and explore the true costs of our food choices: not just in dollars, but in health, environmental harm, and the lives of animals.
Given today’s economic climate, eating affordably has become a central concern—both at the dinner table and in public discourse. Families are searching for ways to cut costs, lower their grocery bills, and stretch their food budgets without compromising nutrition. And every time I hear this conversation, I want to exclaim, “Eat plants!”
One of the biggest myths still circulating about being vegan / eating plant-based is that it’s “more expensive.” I don’t know who started it or why it hasn’t been extinguished by now, but it’s complete bunk. Eating a whole foods, plant-based diet is the most economical, the most affordable, the most nutrient-dense, and the most compassionate way to eat. No two ways about it.
The Cost Benefits of Eating Plants
Even with the advantage of government subsidies, meat, dairy, and eggs remain more expensive than plant-based proteins. In the U.S.,
the average cost of ground beef hovers around $4.50 per pound
boneless chicken breasts are roughly $3.80 per pound, and
canned tuna averages about $2.20 per pound.
In contrast,
dried beans and lentils typically cost under $1.50 per pound
rice is usually well below $1.00 per pound
tofu is generally priced under $2.00 per pound
while the cost of nuts and seeds varies—pine nuts being among the most expensive—affordable choices like sunflower seeds offer nearly the same protein content at a fraction of the cost.
Plant-based meats, such as veggie dogs or plant-based burgers, often cost around $5.00 per pound or more, and that’s why I emphasize centering your diet on whole plant foods. Enjoying convenience foods occasionally is perfectly fine, but they will always be more expensive, because you’re paying for the convenience of already-prepared meals—and that is the case whether they’re plant- or animal-based.
But generally speaking, when it comes to the most healthful and most affordable foods, whole plant foods win every time—over convenience foods and over animal products.
Affordable vs. Cheap
Notice I’m using the word “affordable”—not the word “cheap.” There’s a big difference between eating affordable food and eating cheap food, which is what we’ve all become accustomed to, primarily due to government subsidies and buy-backs for meat, dairy, and eggs. Because of these artificially cheap products, we tend to complain when we have to pay the true cost of whole, fresh, local, organic, non-subsidized produce.
The problem isn’t that plants are expensive; the problem is that animal products are priced artificially low.
And that distortion keeps us from seeing the real cost of our food—whether it’s monetary or otherwise. Cost, after all, goes well beyond dollars and cents.
That so-called “cheap” food comes with a hefty price: environmental destruction, deforestation, polluted waterways, excessive resource use, and greenhouse gas emissions. And of course, cheap meat, dairy, and eggs come at an unfathomable cost to the animals themselves, who are treated as production units in the factory farms we’ve built. They pay with their bodies and their lives.
And we pay, too. We pay through cognitive dissonance—teaching our children to love animals while feeding them hamburgers—and through a gradual desensitization of our hearts.
In the end, we pay very high prices for cheap animal products.
Eating healthfully and affordably means considering all the costs of our consumption: costs to our health, to the Earth, to the people who produce our food, to the animals, and to our overall well-being.
High Environmental Costs
I’ve heard people praise “cheap” animal products, arguing that their low price makes them more accessible—especially to low-income communities—as if that’s somehow a benefit, as if it’s a favor we’re doing for people. The truth is, these are extraordinarily expensive products to produce. When we spend $2.00 on a package of animal-based hot dogs, we’re not paying the true cost. We are paying for it—but not in a way we can immediately see or touch.
The only cost we register is the price on the package: $2.00 for a product that’s unhealthful, unsustainable, and cruel—yet marketed as a bargain.
I imagine the people who live in North Carolina—the heart of the U.S. pig industry—could tell you a great deal about the true cost of those cheap hot dogs, ham slices, and bacon strips. With more than 2,200 hog operations in the state, over 9 million pigs are confined in North Carolina’s “hog farms” at any given time, and the public health and environmental consequences are profound.
One of the most serious issues is waste.
Pigs produce three to four times more waste than humans, and this enormous volume is stored in vast open-air lagoons, many the size of several football fields. These lagoons are prone to leaks, overflows, and catastrophic spills. In several documented cases, they’ve ruptured completely, releasing millions of gallons of manure into nearby rivers—killing fish, contaminating drinking water, destroying wetlands, sickening communities, and devastating ecosystems.
And then there’s the “dead zone” in the Gulf of Mexico—a massive area where agricultural runoff, primarily from animal waste and fertilizer, drains into the ocean and strips the water of oxygen. Without oxygen, marine life cannot survive. This hypoxic zone forms annually and fluctuates in size, but it typically spans between 5,000 and 8,000 square miles—roughly the size of Connecticut.
And the environmental costs don’t end with waste pollution or dead zones. Animal agriculture is one of the leading contributors to greenhouse gas emissions, deforestation, water pollution, and biodiversity loss worldwide. Producing animal-based foods requires significantly more land and water than growing plant-based foods, and it’s far less efficient.
Livestock production accounts for nearly 60% of all food-related emissions, while only providing 18% of the world’s calories. We’re bulldozing forests, depleting soil, and draining freshwater resources to sustain an industry that is environmentally unsustainable.
To my mind, no grocery store savings is worth that cost. But let’s be clear: the choice isn’t between “cheap animal-based hot dogs” and “expensive veggie hot dogs.” That’s a false dichotomy. The options for affordable, healthful plant-based foods are abundant—and they don’t come with the hidden price tag that animal products carry.
High Health Care Costs for “Diseases of Affluence”
The hidden costs of animal proudcts aren’t limited to environmental destruction—they show up in our hospitals, clinics, and insurance premiums, too. That $2 hot dog might seem like a deal at the register, but we’re paying for it in far more serious and very costly ways.
Health care spending is rising at an unsustainable rate—roughly 6% per year. Procedures like coronary bypass surgery and angioplasty can cost nearly $60,000 each. Meanwhile, coronary artery disease remains one of the most devastating and preventable conditions in the country. According to the American Heart Association, nearly half of all U.S. adults—about 127.9 million people—are living with some form of cardiovascular disease, a largely preventable condition often referred to as a “disease of affluence”—driven not by scarcity, but by excess and lifestyle.
Coronary heart disease alone caused more than 370,000 deaths in 2022, and approximately 805,000 Americans experience a heart attack each year. Of those, more than 1.2 million require hospitalization, and an estimated 425,000 undergo bypass surgery annually.
And yet, millions of Americans still live without health insurance to cover these costs. Many are among the most vulnerable: working-class families, older adults, people of color, and others already facing systemic disadvantage. And thanks to recent federal budget cuts—supported by Trump and congressional Republicans—millions more are expected to lose coverage in the coming years as Medicaid funding is slashed. That means more people facing life-threatening, diet-related diseases with no access to preventive care or affordable treatment.
And people complain that an organic apple costs too much?
The truth is: we know diet plays a central role in both preventing and reversing cardiovascular disease. A comprehensive 2023 meta-analysis of 30 randomized controlled trials found that vegetarian and vegan diets significantly lower cholesterol and other key risk factors for heart disease. Specifically, LDL cholesterol—the so-called “bad” cholesterol—dropped by about 12 points, and another major marker, apolipoprotein B, fell by around 14%. These results are comparable to what people typically see when taking statin drugs—only without the side effects.
The evidence is overwhelming: eating plant-based is not only affordable—it’s a proven strategy for lowering cholesterol, preventing heart disease, and reducing reliance on costly and side-effect–laden medications.
People deserve to know this. They deserve to be told—by their doctors, by their insurance providers, and by their government—that they have another option. That they don’t need to undergo risky surgery or take costly drugs to treat a condition that could have been prevented in the first place. Insurance companies should incentivize prevention, not just procedures. And the government should be supporting healthful food systems—not subsidizing the industries that make us sick.
The Animals Who Pay With Their Lives
Behind every “cheap” egg, burger, or slice of cheese is a sentient being whose life was cut short for the sake of convenience and profit. In today’s industrialized food system, animals are treated not as individuals with preferences, intelligence, and social bonds, but as units of production—brought into this world, confined, mutilated, and killed on a massive scale.
As a society, we have a paradoxical relationship with animals. We agree that killing a dog or a cat is an act of violence, but we rationalize the annual slaughter of billions of birds, pigs, and cows because it’s socially acceptable.
But socially sanctioned violence is still violence, and the violence inherent in killing — for fun or for food — has undeniable psychological consequences.
Recent studies show that the propensity for violent crime is increased by work that involves the routine slaughter of animals, but the connection between violence against animals and violence against humans has been documented for centuries.
At a time when we are urged to “know where our food comes from,” we should also know that when it comes to killing, you can’t separate the violence from the slaughter. Slaughter is difficult, and it’s ugly.
Death does not come easy to those who want to live. And everyone fights to live.
Eating the Future
At the end of the day, every time we choose not to eat a healthful plant food, we’re making a decision—not just about who we want to be and how we want to feel now, but about how we want to feel in the future.
And we’re making those decisions for our children, too.
Research shows that the eating habits formed in childhood have a lasting impact, shaping how we eat as adults and influencing our long-term risk of disease. In other words, what children eat during their formative years has a profound effect on their future health. And with American children consuming so few whole plant foods, there’s enormous room—and need—for improvement.
If we want to nourish ourselves and future generations,
we need to make nutrient-dense choices: foods that deliver the most nutrition per calorie.
that means choosing whole plant foods over highly processed, nutrient-poor options.
it means moving away from empty calories and toward foods that truly sustain us—physically, emotionally, and ethically.
Because when we choose whole plant foods, we’re not just feeding our bodies—we’re investing in our health, protecting our planet, and laying the foundation for a more just, compassionate, and sustainable food system.
In my next article, I’ll be sharing practical, actionable steps we can take to reduce these big-picture costs—and real strategies for saving money on your grocery bill. In the meantime, I’d love to hear from you: what are your specific challenges or barriers to eating more healthfully and affordably?
Until next time…here are some additional resources for you
👉 Work with me 1:1 – Get personalized guidance whatever you are looking for. (One one-on-one consultation is also a perk of the Founding Member/VIP level here on Substack.)
👉 Listen to Food for Thought – Inspiration for living compassionately, sustainably, and healthfully (18 years strong!)
👉 Travel with me! I host animal-friendly, luxury, all-inclusive vegan trips around the world, specifically curated to ensure high-quality, high-touch premium experiences. Check out our upcoming trips, and let me know if you have any questions.
👉 Check out my Recipe E-Books and my library of On-Demand Cooking Classes for recipes.
Fabulous article! Thank you!