The current food inflation has seen British households scramble to find affordable alternatives along with trying to devise methods of saving money on energy bills.
Discover our latest podcast
According to Independent, in another consequences of the current cost of living crisis, many British households might be choosing to give up on meat altogether in order to save money on their grocery bill. Yes, it seems that many people in the UK are turning vegetarian due to the economic toll of this crisis.
Falling meat sales
A very good indication of this trend is the steadily falling sales of meat. As per the report, lamb and beef sales in the UK are down by 23.7 percent and 13.7 percent respectively.
The Vegetarian Society also reported an uptick in the number of people who were interested in them, with their website’s recipe page being visited by people in droves. The report quoted Richard McIlwain, chief executive of the society as saying,
There are still all the traditional motivations for people getting in touch – like animal welfare and environmental reasons – but certainly, anecdotally, what we are hearing is that people who perhaps ordinarily wouldn’t have considered a vegetarian or vegan diet are now doing so for economic reasons.
Savings from going vegetarian
As per Independent, an Oxford University study had found that a vegetarian diet could be as much as one third cheaper than a diet containing animal products. Even a flexitarian diet could reduce household grocery bills by 14%.
The article quotes a couple who went vegetarian earlier this year,
Our weekly food bill now - excluding alcohol - is £25 for both of us.
We tend to bulk buy lentils and beans to make things even cheaper but mainly it’s just lots of vegetables and fruit. It’s pretty amazing how you can bring it down once you take meat - and meat substitutes - away.
An article by CNET, estimated that people on meatless diets spend an average of $23 less per week on food. This converts to about £19 less on a grocery bill, so overall you could be saving around £900 a year.
The report also stated that according to Center for a Livable Future at Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, not only is having no or less meat good for the budget, it is also good for the environment and for your overall health.
With meat being significantly more expensive than fruits, vegetables and legumes, and plant-based proteins being proven to be good for health, going vegetarian for saving money and for better health seems like the way forward, especially in this economy.
Read more:
⋙ Save money on groceries with this simple TikTok hack
⋙ Earn money by restricting your appliance use and help avoid blackouts. Here's how
