Myth Debunked: Eating Healthy Is Too Expensive
One of the most common misconceptions I hear about a vegan diet is that “it must cost so much to eat like that!” I’m not sure how this myth came about because the cheapest staple foods one can buy are rice, beans, potatoes, and bananas. Oats, squashes, apples, pears, and oranges are also inexpensive. On the other hand, animal foods such as seafood, steak, milk, and cheese cost much more than the before mentioned plant foods. There is a hidden cost to animal products that most people do not know. Tax payer agricultural subsidies, the bulk of which funds the meat, dairy, and egg industry, total $20 billion a year (1). The price at the register for meat does not reflect the true cost when you add in the billions we are collectively taxed each year. If the public was not taxed to keep meat, dairy, and egg prices artificially low, the cost of these foods would increase dramatically. Although fruits and vegetables have been known to be the true health foods for centuries they remain a tiny fraction of agricultural subsidies. Why does our government subsidize the foods that in excess cause cardiovascular disease, type 2 diabetes, and certain cancers while ignoring the foods that prevent and reverse these diseases? Wouldn’t it make more sense to make the healthier foods more affordable? Shifting a mere 10% of ag subsidies away from meat and dairy to fruits and vegetables would help make eating healthy even more affordable than it already is.
Eating healthy is not more expensive than eating the standard American diet but there is another aspect to consider. Even if it did cost a little more to eat healthier is it too cost-prohibitive to be feasible? What you may not know is that, compared to 100 years ago, Americans spend a much smaller percent of their budget on food. In 1901 people spent on average 40% of their income on food while in 2003 they spent 13% on food (2). How much of your monthly income goes into your phone bill, cable bill, newest gadgets, designer clothing, alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, energy drinks, junk food, and going out to eat (more expensive than cooking at home)? The problem may not be that eating healthier costs too much, but that people do not prioritize health. Remember the old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?" Would you rather pay a little more upfront on healthy foods or pay a lot more later for prescriptions and medical procedures?
1 http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21643191-crop-prices-fall-farmers-grow-subsidies-instead-milking-taxpayers
2 http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/100-years-of-consumer-spending/
Eating healthy is not more expensive than eating the standard American diet but there is another aspect to consider. Even if it did cost a little more to eat healthier is it too cost-prohibitive to be feasible? What you may not know is that, compared to 100 years ago, Americans spend a much smaller percent of their budget on food. In 1901 people spent on average 40% of their income on food while in 2003 they spent 13% on food (2). How much of your monthly income goes into your phone bill, cable bill, newest gadgets, designer clothing, alcohol, cigarettes, coffee, energy drinks, junk food, and going out to eat (more expensive than cooking at home)? The problem may not be that eating healthier costs too much, but that people do not prioritize health. Remember the old saying "an ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure?" Would you rather pay a little more upfront on healthy foods or pay a lot more later for prescriptions and medical procedures?
1 http://www.economist.com/news/united-states/21643191-crop-prices-fall-farmers-grow-subsidies-instead-milking-taxpayers
2 http://visualeconomics.creditloan.com/100-years-of-consumer-spending/
