Are Healthy Diets Cost-Effective & Sustainable? It's Complicated

A new report published in the Lancet: Planetary Health has estimated the costs of healthy and sustainable diets around the world1—and the affordability aspect largely hinges on where you live.

The study, which was conducted by researchers at Oxford University, drew one major conclusion: that in the United States, Australia, the United Kingdom, and much of Western Europe, adopting some version of a vegetarian or plant-based diet can reduce the price of food and grocery bills by as much as 34%, and at least 22%.

That said, while the study found in "upper-middle-income to high-income countries" (the ones above) making healthier and more sustainable food choices could decrease cost, there's a flip side: In "lower-middle-income to low-income countries," they found that eating a healthier and more sustainable diet would increase food costs by as much as 29%.

"Affording to eat a healthy and sustainable diet is possible everywhere but requires political will," explained lead researcher Marco Springmann, Ph.D. "Current low-income diets tend to contain large amounts of starchy foods and not enough of the foods we know are healthy. And the Western-style diets, often seen as aspirational, are not only unhealthy but also vastly unsustainable and unaffordable in low-income countries."

If you live in the United States or other "Western" nations, switching to a more plant-focused diet may be a more affordable way to support your health and the health of the planet—a win-win. But it's important to recognize that the model only works in some places. Systemic change might make it a solution for more and more folks, but other changes need to take place first.