I sometimes eat vegan products. I have the feeling they are often more expensive. Maybe because it is such a hype product. I am not a vegan but it is interesting for me how good the companies can imitate the taste of meat. I also eat meat but rather seldom. I always have a little bit of disgust about myself when I am eating it. Knowing I eat something which was a sentient being and bleeded when it was killed.
I think I eat 2-3 times a week meat. And mostly as side dish.
I think they make vegan products this expensive because they consider the main target group educated-urban wealthy consumers. I am not really wealthy but my food is quite expensive. My mom often buys the products. If I had to buy them from my own money I would be way more stingy. I think when poverty hits I gonna kill myself. I really like my food. It is really healthy and tasty. It increases my life quality. But I think on welfare I would be forced to eat way way worse food. This could be pretty bad because I have an eating disorder and I don't want under no circumstances to gain weight.
Idk if they're a "scam", and some of them are quite worth it on occasion (especially meals from vegan restaurants) but hell yes they are more expensive than they have any right being, from packaged to fresh.
It
is a hype product, people will pay that extra dollar to feel morally superior (I kid).
The vegan diet usually comes with a certain culture (often hipster) which is also, oddly enough, commonly affluent.
Make of that what you will.
It's cheaper to make your own food from scratch (but far more time consuming and not nearly
as cheap as people state).
(Random, but I want to let you know that the "vegan meat" products or anything that currently attempts to mimic animal product, especially if packaged, is usually horrible for your body, check the ingredients and additives.)
I was a vegetarian (but technically a vegan by default because I simply did not buy animal material products and did not have a taste for eggs, cheese, milk during that time) for about 2 years shy of a decade (iirc).
I had to stop due to incompatibility with a necessary medication and compounding health concerns, supplements weren't going to cut it (also expensive).
I have relatives who were 'veg' since birth but they are also what I would consider upper-middle class, so I really wonder if they would have committed to that lifestyle if they were not in that favorable financial position.
I'm of the antinatalist persuasion so despite now consuming animal products (ideally ethically sourced and only in necessary amounts) I can safely say my lack of a family line will do more than any vegan lifestyle in one lifetime ever could. (This is why I scoff at outspoken, hostile vegans who have children..they're less consistent than antinatalists who aren't also vegan-aka me-and basically erase their own efforts via procreation..which, btw, includes plenty of descendants that likely won't hold themselves to the same strict standards).
And I know what you mean by relying on your food to increase your quality of life, especially if it's the only thing available to do so.
I lose my appetite often, but when I don't I still like good food. It is also a welcome distraction.
…unfortunately as I type this I am resorting to a desperate meal of mustard on saltines.
I really don't think that this is the reason. It is much more efficient to make products in very large batches, so that's why products that most poeple want to eat are cheaper per unit. Only a small percentage of people want to eat vegan, so these products have a much lower volume, so the cost per unit is quite a bit higher.
Sure, but there are also plenty of products that are made in very small batches with little demand-including grocery products-which are a dime on the dollar compared to what's marketed as "vegan".
So clearly there are probably multiple factors at play.
