Vegan MoFo Day 5: Let's address expense

I have a Google alert for "vegan", and every day that alert is full of two kinds of hits: Awesome recipes and food writing from vegan blogs and snarky, even hostile put-downs of veganism and vegans from mainstream media outlets.

It's both appetizing and disheartening...which is emotionally confusing :)

One of the common dismissals of veganism is that it's an elitist affect of the privileged. Never mind that the common diet of many world cultures is essentially vegan. Never mind that people talk about subsisting through hard times on things like peanut butter & jelly, rice & beans, and  ramen noodles...all of which are easily vegan.

So, to take it one step further, check out this post on I Eat Grass from a vegan who, for five months, was happily a food stamp vegan.

He subsisted on a monthly budget for food that is about my weekly one (granted, for two people...one a big eater). And he was able to shop both at the supermarket, and at some farmer's markets.

Greens, beans, rice, noodles, nuts. These are absolutely my staples too. Many bought in bulk. Everything else is bonus, and could be lived without. 

No, vegans are not the privileged or the elite. No, you don't need a lot of money to be a vegan.

You just have to care enough about either your health, the planet's health, or the animals' health to take this very effective action about it.

Are you a cheap vegan or a luxury vegan?

 

 

Comments

[Ashley H]

Honestly I can a bit of both but more on the cheap vegan side. I would have to say that because I was unemployed with no benefits and no Food Stamps either. I was relying on my family's budget for me to have food or share there food which was about 80 dollars a month plus whatever my boyfriend bought me which usually not much. So I lived off a budget of under 100 dollars a month and I ate healthy for the most part I did have my days when I didn't eat healthy.

[Shannon R]

I admit I'm a luxury vegan. It's only because it's my way of de-stressing and I can honestly afford it. I have long hours and it is a treat to buy things that I would pass up if I was budgeting (I'm looking at your non-local honeycrisp apples). I do however try to shop at farmer's markets and look for cheaper alternatives (tinned beans are way cheaper at Target) but I won't deny buying a fancy nut butter if the mood strikes.

[Elisa Camahort]

Oh, don't get me wrong. I am a luxury vegan a lot of the time. I have been all about the convenience foods. I'm trying to cook more, to be more healthy, and it turns out that can also be less expensive!

[Debbie]

Am I a luxury vegan? Probably some people would think so. I shop at farmer’s markets when they are open not to save money because I love everything about farmer’s markets. I shop for some things at Food Fight which is a vegan only store (I’m very lucky to live near a vegan store), I shop at whole foods every couple of weeks or so. The rest of the time I shop at the local grocery store. I don’t think too much about the cost but more about the quality and variety. I am very lucky that I can afford to do that. But early on I did a comparison and my grocery bill wasn’t any more higher as a vegan as it was pre-vegan. I don’t buy frozen foods now, I don’t going out to eat much at all, and I don’t buy pre-made from the deli. For me I was more of a food elitist pre-vegan when I went out to trendy restaurants and had more of a gluttonous diet. Now it is about health and compassion.

[Elisa Camahort]

Wow, you live near a vegan-only store? That IS lucky!!

I am actually now in a position where I don't check my food bill either. I'm very un-spendy in the rest of my life...don't travel much or spend a lot on things (well, other than technology, my other vice). So eating well is my big investment, I guess you could say.

[Momo Fali]

I'd say I'm a little bit of both, but only because sometimes luxury is the ONLY option. When my grocery chain starts making store-brand, non-dairy sour "cream" then I will buy it.