Food is expensive.
Food is expensive and, while middle-income families spent $7,061 or 14.3 percent of their income on food, the lowest-income households spent $4,070 on food in 2017, which is 34.1 percent of their income.1 Fast food and processed food may be convenient, but is it as cheap as people think? Are you trapped in spending a substantial part of your income on food?
You have control of what you spend on food.
The good news is that you have complete control of the foods you chose to eat, and if you chose a Whole Food Plant-Based lifestyle, you can bring down your cost of food substantially.
True immediate cost of a Big Mac versus whole plant-based food.
Let’s look at what the cost of a $3.99 McDonald’s Big Mac really costs per pound. A Big Mac weight 7.4 ounces, or $8.65 per pound.2 Since the average person eats approximately four pounds of food per day; this totals $34.60 per day. Compare this cost with a pound of brown rice at $0.75/lb., pinto beans at $1.44/lb. for two cooked pounds, and USDA recommended 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of vegetables daily for $2.35, and you have $4.54 cost per person per day.3,4 This is over a 700 percent increase in food cost for a Big Mac over plant-based food.
Long-term health benefits of a Whole Food Plant-Based lifestyle.
What price is your health? Nothing is more important than health, and the benefits of a Whole Food Plant-Based lifestyle save on hospital bills while they make you healthy. Research shows that plant-based diets result in weight loss, less weight gain and recommend increased intake of whole plant food.5 Most important research recommends a reduction of less-healthy refined plant and especially animal food.5 Additional research found you may delay unhealthy aging when you replace fats and animal protein, especially from meat and dairy, with vegetable protein.6 You will live longer, happier, healthier, and cheaper with a Whole Food Plant-Based lifestyle.
References
1. USDA ERS. Food Prices and Spending.
https://www.ers.usda.gov/data-products/ag-and-food…the…/food-prices-and-spending/ Accessed August 5, 2019.
2. McDonald’s Prices and Locations. www.menuwithprice.com/menu/mcdonalds. Accessed August 5, 2019.
3. Amazon.com. Diamond G Brown Rice 15 lb. $19.99. www.amazon.com. Accessed August 5, 2019.
4. United States Department of Agriculture Economic Research Service. Americans still can meet fruit and vegetable dietary guidelines for $2.10-$2.60 per day. https://www.ers.usda.gov/amber-waves/2019/june/americans-still-can-meet-fruit-and-vegetable-dietary-guidelines-for-210-260-per-day/
5. Satija A, Malik V, Rimm EB, et al. Changes in intake of plant-based diets and weight change: results from 3 prospective cohort studies. Am J Clin Nutr. 2019;00:1-9. doi: 10.1093/ajcn/nqz049.
6. Ortola R, Struijk EA, Garcia-Esquinas E, Rodriguez-Artalejo F, Lopez-Garcia E. Changes in dietary intake of animal and vegetable protein and unhealthy aging. Am J Med. 2019; Jul 29. Pii:S0002-9343(19)30602-3. doi: 10.1016/j.amjmed.2019.06.051.
