Here's One Big Benefit of Being a Vegetarian

Nick Ferrari

Cash Crop

Vegetarians have one big advantage: Saving money on food.

Meat’s fine for a lot of things: roasting, barbecuing, pigs-in-a-blanketing. But one thing it’s not good for: budgeting.

According to a new Journal of Hunger & Environmental Nutrition study that compared a week of 2,000-calorie-a-day meat-based meals with equivalent veggie feasts, meat eaters spend almost $750 more a year on food than vegetarians. In other words, the sounds of bacon sizzling in a pan or sirloin searing on a grill are really the screams of Ben Franklin being burned alive. 

"When you consider only food purchased to make a meal, meat’s the most expensive part of a food budget," says study author Mary M. Flynn, Ph.D. And, as the World Health Organization reported recently, there may be health issues, too. Not that we’re suggesting you go cold Tofurky and quit meat all together (or all at once). For a better look at a balanced diet that can get you down to an optimally low body fat—the kind that will reveal the six-pack you've worked so hard on—check out these 18 foods.

Then start thinking what you can do with all that cash.

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