A new survey shows that a majority of US consumers believe vegan diets are more costly than the Standard American Diet, despite meat being the highest source of spending for 70% of them.
Talk about veganism in a social setting, and complaints about cost are never far away.
And there’s some justification in that – plant-based meat alternatives carry an 82% premium on conventional meat in the US. That’s no surprise, considering the latter is a legacy industry with gigantic scale and government support (both via subsidies and policies).
But veganism is more than just about meat analogues, so by using them as a yardstick for the plant-based diet, they’re missing a trick. Meals built around whole foods are usually far more affordable than those centred on animal proteins, according to Xavier Toledo, a registered dietitian with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine (PCRM).
The health advocacy group polled 2,200 Americans with Morning Consult to find that 77% of adults say grocery prices are too high at the moment. And when asked what they spend the most money on, 70% of respondents said meat, and another 12% said dairy.
Americans blame meat alternatives for plant-based diet costs
PCRM suggests that Americans are misinformed about the cost of eating a plant-based diet, since 61% of them believe buying groceries for this way of eating is more expensive than the Standard American Diet.
The latter is characterised by the US dietary guidelines as too high in red meat, high-fat dairy, processed and fast foods, refined carbohydrates, added sugars, salt and calories, and too low in fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, lean protein and healthy fats.
The perception of plant-based diets as more expensive rises with age, with baby boomers most likely to think so (67%). The sentiment is more popular among white and rural demographics, too. Surprisingly, though, the lowest-earning Americans in the poll (earning under $50,000 annually) were least likely to think that vegan diets are costlier, with 58% saying so.
When asked which groceries cause plant-based eating to be more expensive, a majority of the participants (60%) pointed to meat alternatives. The aforementioned price gap with conventional meat helps to explain this. It’s also why sales of plant-based meat and seafood have continued to decline in the US, falling by 7% last year.
Separate research shows that if meat-free alternatives are more expensive, Americans’ preference for them falls below 20%, and if they’re priced equally, this increases to 21%. Whereas if vegan alternatives cost about half of a conventional burger, the number of people choosing the former would double. And lowering the price of the plant-based burger by even 10% would result in a 14% increase in sales.
Three in 10 consumers told the pollsters that fruits and vegetables make vegan diets expensive, highlighting the “knowledge gaps about plant-based eating”.
“Centring a plant-based diet on whole, minimally processed foods is one of the most effective ways to not only nourish your body, but also cut grocery costs,” said Toledo. “Simple shifts – like buying produce in season, choosing frozen or canned when it’s more affordable, cooking in batches, and leaning on budget-friendly staples like potatoes, beans, and brown rice – can make a big difference.”
Is veganism really that expensive?
Inflation has hiked grocery prices across the board, whether it’s a Beyond Burger or Perdue chicken. Now, nine in 10 Americans say healthy food has become more expensive, and 62% suggest that prices are now a high priority in their food purchasing decisions.
Moreover, some foods have been hit harder by inflation than others. According to the Pew Research Centre, prices of meat, poultry, fish and eggs saw the fastest hikes of any food category since January 2020, up by more than 36%. The category least affected by inflation? Fruits and vegetables, which are 16% more expensive today.
The egg crisis has been well-documented, with prices breaking records consecutively in the first three months of 2025, and set to rise by another 40% throughout the year. In addition, the cost of fresh chicken rose to levels never seen before this year, crossing $2.06 per lb in March. And milk has remained above the $4 per gallon rate since August 2024, and was up by 5% this April compared to 12 months earlier.
Meanwhile, ground beef prices hit 5.80 per lb in cities in April, the highest since records began 40 years ago. Likewise, the cost of uncooked beef steaks reached an all-time high of $11.12 per lb.
SPINS data crunched by the Plant-Based Foods Association found that average retail costs grew across all animal-based food categories in 2024, with eggs registering the largest hike (6%), followed by butter (3%), creamer (3%), and cheese (2%).
Plant-based yoghurt and meat were among the only categories whose price hikes outpaced their animal counterparts. Vegan butter and ice cream were 3% cheaper in 2024 than the year before, while the cost of non-dairy creamers and cheese fell by 1%. And while milk alternatives were 1% more expensive, their price hike was lower than the 2% experienced by cow’s milk.
Meat and dairy are the categories Americans spend their most money on, the PCRM survey showed, while plant-based alternatives only rank in the top two spending categories for 6% of Americans.
Veganism isn’t expensive. Meat and dairy, however, are getting pricier. Replacing them with fruits, vegetables and whole foods can bring major wins for Americans’ wallets.
This was proven by a PCRM study last year, which revealed that a low-fat vegan diet can cut food costs by 19% to $1.80 per day, when compared to the Standard American Diet. These savings were largely attributed to meat and dairy, outweighing the increase spend on vegetables, grains, and even meat alternatives.
The post Most Americans Think Plant-Based Diets Are Too Expensive. They’re Wrong appeared first on Green Queen.
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