{"id":21741,"date":"2020-08-28T10:00:29","date_gmt":"2020-08-28T17:00:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/?p=21741"},"modified":"2024-11-13T09:31:17","modified_gmt":"2024-11-13T17:31:17","slug":"eating-plant-based-on-a-budget","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/foodrevolution.org\/blog\/eating-plant-based-on-a-budget\/","title":{"rendered":"7 Healthy Recipes for Eating Plant-Based on a Budget"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\n Jump to Recipes<\/a>\n <\/div>\n
\nDoes eating a plant-based diet<\/a> seem out of reach or out of your budget? Right now, many people are struggling to put any food on the table<\/a>, plant-based or otherwise. In addition to housing and transportation, food is one of the largest expenses<\/a> for most people. Americans spend around 10%<\/a> of their income on food. And before the pandemic, this was divided almost exactly in half between food consumed at home and food purchased away from home. Of course, these numbers may be higher or lower depending on where you live, your household income, the costs of food and living in your community, how many people live in your home, your financial context, and your eating habits.<\/p>\n

But these days, people are eating at home more than they have in a long time. With so many people out of work and struggling to make ends meet, the need for healthy recipes using inexpensive ingredients is greater than ever.<\/p>\n

If you\u2019re concerned about feeding your family, then spending extra to eat healthy may feel like a luxury you just can\u2019t afford. But the good news is you don\u2019t have to choose between nutritious food and affordable food. You can eat healthfully \u2014 and actually save money in the process. Here\u2019s how to eat plant-based on a budget.<\/p>\n

Figuring Out Your Budget<\/h2>\n
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If you want to do anything on a budget, the first step is to clarify what that budget is. There are many tools and applications that can help with budgeting (like the ones listed here<\/a>). If money\u2019s tight, then budgeting is even more important, so you can have accurate information about where you stand \u2014 and can make the best choices about how to allocate the limited resources you have to work with.<\/p>\n

There are a few specific tools that might be helpful to you in creating or clarifying your household food budget. One is the USDA Food Plans<\/a>. These are cost of food reports that the USDA puts together on a monthly basis, representing a nutritious (at least as defined by the USDA) diet at four different cost levels. Of course, costs vary tremendously in different states and nations, but this can give you a sense of what the USDA is estimating based on national averages in the United States.<\/p>\n

Using the most current data<\/a> as of this writing, the USDA estimates that the average family of four can eat a nutritious diet for as little as $500 a month for a low-cost plan, and up to $800 a month for a more liberal one.<\/b> The plans assume some level of meat and dairy consumption, as well as a preference for prepared foods over cooking from scratch, so it\u2019s entirely possible to feed your family a nutritious diet at the low end of that range without animal products. Below, we\u2019ll show you how.<\/p>\n

Getting the Most Nutritious Bang for Your Buck<\/h2>\n
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There are two main metrics to look at when it comes to stretching your food dollars for maximal value. The first is caloric, and the second is nutritional.<\/b><\/p>\n

If someone doesn\u2019t get enough calories, their body will eventually starve. For hundreds of millions of people in the world, that\u2019s the gravest dietary danger. And it\u2019s a formidable one. If eating at all is priority number one, then anything available and edible becomes better than nothing. And many people who are on the edge of starvation base their diets around white flour, low-quality bottled oils, added sugars, processed and fried meats, and other highly processed foods. This is one of the primary reasons that a host of health problems, from obesity to type 2 diabetes to cardiovascular disease, tend to be highest among low-income communities<\/a>.<\/p>\n

But the next food value metric to look at is nutritional. Highly processed foods may be a cheap source of calories, but they tend to be nearly devoid of the vitamins, minerals, fiber, flavonoids, antioxidants, and other nutrients that are critical to your health.<\/p>\n

Dr. Joel Fuhrman created the ANDI<\/a> (aggregate nutrient density index) food score to identify the most nutrient-dense, healthy plant foods. The ANDI system determines the healthfulness of common foods based on how much nutrition you\u2019ll get per calorie. Specifically, the ANDI score is based on 34 important nutritional parameters and ranks all foods on a scale from 1 to 1000. A score of 1000 belongs to the most nutrient-dense foods, such as green leafy vegetables like kale, collards, and mustard greens.<\/p>\n

Best Foods for Eating Plant-Based on a Budget<\/h2>\n

The ANDI score doesn\u2019t reference the costs of the foods, though, so you\u2019ll need more information to maximize the nutritional power of each dollar. Our team did some digging, and using both the ANDI scores and the Ag Marketing Resource Center<\/a> to evaluate commercial food prices, we came up with a list of some of the least expensive, healthiest plant foods. Here they are, in no specific order.<\/p>\n