UK Is 'Vegan' Expensive?

I'd be wary of buying that much rice! I try and keep my rice use to a minimum. I rinse, but dislike it when it's cooked like pasta and drained,and that's what should be done to reduce arsenic

I have warned my family and friends about arsenic in rice. but they mostly eat white rice and from what I understand that doesn't have that much arsenic.

At first I switched to Lundberg California White Basmati because it has very little arsenic. but I just bought their brown rice. I soak it and rinse it before cooking it.

And I don't have rice more than a few times a week.

Yeah, don't like cooking It like pasta either.
 
I have warned my family and friends about arsenic in rice. but they mostly eat white rice and from what I understand that doesn't have that much arsenic.

At first I switched to Lundberg California White Basmati because it has very little arsenic. but I just bought their brown rice. I soak it and rinse it before cooking it.

And I don't have rice more than a few times a week.

Yeah, don't like cooking It like pasta either.

Lundberg publishes their lead testing, so a much better bet.
I buy white Jasmine rice from Thailand.

Farro or bulgar are the closest grains I'd compare it to. I dislike quinoa
 
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I have warned my family and friends about arsenic in rice. but they mostly eat white rice and from what I understand that doesn't have that much arsenic.

At first I switched to Lundberg California White Basmati because it has very little arsenic. but I just bought their brown rice. I soak it and rinse it before cooking it.

And I don't have rice more than a few times a week.

Yeah, don't like cooking It like pasta either.

white rice I do buy in 10 lb bags and it is about $17 CAD right now and I buy one from India usually

we always rinse our rice well and we cook two ways - lazy way... the rice cooker - my honey's favourite way is double cooking the pasta way - once in boiling water for 4.5 minutes - drain and boil the water again and for another 4.5 minutes, then drain, put back in the pot and cover and allow to fluff up for 10 minutes or so - this makes a beautiful rice

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com
 
white rice I do buy in 10 lb bags and it is about $17 CAD right now and I buy one from India usually

we always rinse our rice well and we cook two ways - lazy way... the rice cooker - my honey's favourite way is double cooking the pasta way - once in boiling water for 4.5 minutes - drain and boil the water again and for another 4.5 minutes, then drain, put back in the pot and cover and allow to fluff up for 10 minutes or so - this makes a beautiful rice

Emma JC
Find your vegan soulmate or just a friend. www.spiritualmatchmaking.com

That last step, no water, no heat?
 
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Vegan is the most inexpensive way to eat unless...

you live in a food desert where no local food is grown, only transported in
you live in an area (country even) where huge subsidies are given for animal products (making them artificially cheaper than produce, beans, rice etc)
you rely on manufactured non-animal products (fake meats and other prepared non-animal food) that has higher price tags at the market
 
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I have heard so many people say that to be vegan is expensive. As a struggling vegan myself (Life long vegetarian and mainly vegan)I would say it depends how you go about it. If you are buying pre-packed all the time then in my opinion yes it is very expensive....very much over priced by companies who are not helping the cause by putting people off with the price. If however you are cooking fresh then no it is not expensive...vegetables and basics are very cheap and can make multiple meals.
Best thing to do I feel is find something you like the look of and try to make it yourself..for a fraction of the price! ha
Hi. Expensive? quite the opposite. Buy 5-25 pounds bags of beans, grains, pasta, quinoa, nuts, seeds. Make you own by soaking beans for 12-20 hours, grains for 8 hours, then rinse, add water, and cook. Soak nuts and seeds before using them. Compare that cost to the cost of canned beans, and to cardboard packaged foods--they cost 5x as much.
You can make your own veggie burgers 12 at a time and then freeze some. Make 1/2 gallon of soup or chili and feast for days. Packaged processed foods
are very costly, whether they are vegan or non-vegan, yet many humans want convenience. But that comes at a cost. Buy fruit in large bags or
by the box at a wholesaler. You can can your own vegetables, or even make your own sauerkraut or kimchi, costs 1/6 what it does already packaged.'
Eat lots of vegetables and salads, they are not expensive but are healthful. Another thing to focus on is the cost of disease-care, most people forget that the more processed their diet, the higher their health-care costs are. Eat LOW on the food chain. Buy a good crock-pot, toaster oven, cooking pots, sprouter, knives, food processor, nut-milk bag, dehydrator, bowls--including salad bowls and storage bowls. You have two choices, make your own or buy it already made. Or a little bit of both. Many omnivores and vegans eat a ton of processed foods and very little fresh vegetables and fruits. Peace.
 
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Buy 5-25 pounds bags of beans, grains, pasta, quinoa, nuts, seeds. Make you own by soaking beans for 12-20 hours, grains for 8 hours, then rinse, add water, and cook. Soak nuts and seeds before using them. Compare that cost to the cost of canned beans, and to cardboard packaged foods--they cost 5x as much.
You can make your own veggie burgers 12 at a time and then freeze some. Make 1/2 gallon of soup or chili and feast for days.
Yes, you can do all this - but not everybody wants to do this. :)

Also in regards to "what it costs": one needs to look at the time it takes to shop and prepare the food and also the cleaning up. When taking these into the equation, a ready-made veg-burger isn't that expensive anymore. Same with canned beans compared to made from scratch. For whatever reason people usually conveniently forget to mention the time all of this takes (apart from the actual cooking).

My motivation for the minimal cooking I do and the meal prepping is "health" and in some cases "taste", not "money".
 
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Yes, you can do all this - but not everybody wants to do this. :)



My motivation for the minimal cooking I do and the meal prepping is "health" and in some cases "taste", not "money".

Totally agree. I only eat pulses and grains in small quantities. Moreover, there is very little choice of beans asides white and red ones; the ones that I like the least. I can only find black beans at either an expensive organic store or sometimes at the local hypermarket. However, they are dried so I don't have tinned ones which is not always convenient.
 
I can only find black beans at either an expensive organic store or sometimes at the local hypermarket. However, they are dried so I don't have tinned ones which is not always convenient.
I'm glad one can get at least canned chick peas and brown lentils now at practically every grocery store. Also baked beans in the can which are usually vegan. A few years ago it was only kidney beans. Stores like Rossmann or DM also usually stock black beans and mixed canned beans. The price is reasonable.

I can get more variety at the Turkish grocery store. However, it's still not as much as when you cook from scratch and since I moved it's not as readily available as well.
 
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I was over at the local Senior Center picking up my Farmer's Market coupons, and they were giving out free copies of Leanne Brown's cookbook Good and Cheap. I looked through it and there were a few recipes with meat (she included vegan substitutions), but about 90% of the recipes were vegan. That included breakfasts, dinners, snacks, salads, and soups.

Apparently, you can't eat meat and eat cheap.
 
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Apparently, you can't eat meat and eat cheap.
My coworkers are always complaining about how the price of meat has gone insane. I just smile because it doesn’t affect me at all.

I think there will come a time, or maybe it already has started. When actual meat is more expensive than it’s plant based alternative. And plant based meats are always improving. Some people will be making vegan choices as a matter of price alone.
 
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My coworkers are always complaining about how the price of meat has gone insane. I just smile because it doesn’t affect me at all.

I think there will come a time, or maybe it already has started. When actual meat is more expensive than it’s plant based alternative. And plant based meats are always improving. Some people will be making vegan choices as a matter of price alone.


I buy a package of Simple Organic Tofu (on sale) for under $2. Pricey tofu is $3.29. Homemade seitan is almost nothing. Even Beyond Beef burgers are a package of 8 patties $15.

When I'm standing in front of the vegan section; people have started coming up to me to ask about the products.

Life is good for vegans.
 
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I buy a package of Simple Organic Tofu (on sale) for under $2. Pricey tofu is $3.29. Homemade seitan is almost nothing. Even Beyond Beef burgers are a package of 8 patties $15.

When I'm standing in front of the vegan section; people have started coming up to me to ask about the products.

Life is good for vegans.

It does depend on where you live. Over here meat and dairy is far cheaper.
 
This. Though plain tofu and smoked tofu have luckily become cheap staples.

Tofu is expensive over here. Strangely enough it's far more expensive at the hypermarket compared
the very expensive organic stores.
I was just being curious the other day, and looked at meat and dairy stuff and it's far cheaper compared to
vegan counterparts. Dairy yogurts and fromage frais are actually quite cheap over here.
 
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When I was still living in England, Linda McCartney Country Pies sold at £2 for a box of 4. That's 50p per pie and they are very deep filled and delicious. I recall somebody saying that all LM products that don't contain cheese are vegan. It's worth checking out the cheaper ranges sometimes. I remember our big all-night Tesco having a large range of vegan/vegetarian products, many of them quite cheap.
 
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