*please note i deeply value and respect the vegan movement. i am just critical of how humorously it precipitates in online spaces, particularly this one. :)
*please note i deeply value and respect the vegan movement. i am just critical of how humorously it precipitates in online spaces, particularly this one. :)
This is complicated; both yes and no.
In the west, where time is often at a premium, the least expensive meals–in combination of time and monetary cost–are rarely vegan. On a calorie-per-calorie cost basis, it’s far less expensive to eat a hamburger at McDonalds than it is a cheap salad from anywhere. Yes, you could cook your own vegan meals, but that takes more time (and bluntly ability) than most people currently have. Fresh ingredients can easily cost more–per calorie–than garbage fast food.
In other parts of the world, notably India, it’s far less expensive to be vegan, in part because they don’t have the cheap calories of mass-produced fast food as readily available. It’s closer to being a cultural norm. OTOH, chronic malnourishment is also pretty common, so…