Comparing Costs Between Diets

Eating a fruit based diet can be expensive, but it doesn’t need to be. There are many approaches that are healthy and affordable. Its likely that a properly managed fruit based diet could be cheaper than most diets.
First, let’s see how much money people spend on their current diets. Recent research by Gallup shows that 51% of the U.S. population spends at least $150 a week on food. Out of those people with 15% spend around $180 per week, 21% spend around $250, and 10% spend $300 or more. Only 25% of the population spends less than $100 per week. (1) Statistics by the USDA suggest that more than 30% of each dollar spent on food by Americans, is spent on eating out.
In my own experience, I found that following a whole-foods omnivorous diet cost me around $140 a week, including meals outside the house. The year I followed a vegan diet, my food expenses went down to $90 per week, and I was still eating out at least once a week. When I started to follow a fruit based diet, my expenses went up to $110 per week, and I stopped eating out. As I learn to eat healthier with less food, my expenses continue to decline, especially as I get used to having fewer meals per day.
If we take my weekly expenses and multiply them by the number of weeks in a year we see that, with an omnivorous diet, I was spending $7,280 per a year. The traditional vegan diet was costing $4,680 per year, and the fruit based diet would cost $5,720. There are people who find ways to spend even less money on these diets. The total amount each of us spends will vary on location, personal preference, meals out, and many more factors.
Fruit based diets can be more affordable than traditional omnivorous diets. Vegan diets can be more affordable than raw vegan and fruit based diets, because they can include grains, legumes, and potatoes, which have a much longer shelf life, and a smaller price tag. Things like flesh, eggs, milk, cheese, fruits, and raw vegetables, have a shorter shelf life and are generally more expensive.

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