Vegetarian, Vegan and Animal Rights

And cheaper too.

To take one (obviously extreme and ridiculous) example, if I wanted to eat nothing but rice and beans for every meal I could buy bulk dry beans and rice at Costco and feed myself for under $200 per year. That's less than a dollar a day.

Of course, that's a pretty boring menu plan (and lacking in some key nutrients) but one can introduce variety with potatoes, squash, yams and colorful veggies (greens and yellows) and probably get by on only twice that budget, or $400-$500 per year (per person). I'm extravagant with my food budget and I usually spend $40 or $50 per week (I live alone) and eat a very healthy, well-balanced diet. (Disclaimer: I grow a lot of veggies and greens, and bushels of tomatoes to blanch and freeze, plus winter squash to eat most of the winter)

Cooking vegan is easy. Cooking vegetarian is even easier still, because you have the flexibility of using eggs and dairy.

BTW: I have a lot of recipes from back in the day when I was an omnivore, and like kentauros says, make the same recipe without the meat. My chili still tastes as good without the ground beef. My spaghetti sauce is just as good without the ground beef. My bean burritos taste just as good as my beef ones used to. I have a lot of casseroles and stews that are just as good without the beef or chicken or whatever they called for.