The claim here is that it's unreasonable to expect everyone to go vegan because it just costs too much
"Beans and rice" is synonymous with cheap living. If you don't believe that vegan food is cheap, I want you to consider the largest food retailer near my house in the Midwest, and the following prices I just grabbed (more or less by randomly searching) as of 12/11/2021 listed on their site (None of these items were on sale at the time), sorted by grams of protein per dollar since carnists are so obsessed with protein:
| food | size | cost | calories | g protein | cal/$ | gprot/$ | g protein/cal | cholesterol |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kroger® Lentil Beans | 16 oz | $1.49 | 1993 | 163 | 1338 | 109 | 0.082 | 0 |
| Kroger® Creamy Peanut Butter | 1 lb | $1.50 | 2548 | 99 | 1699 | 66 | 0.039 | 0 |
| Kroger® Black Beans | 16 oz | $1.89 | 1553 | 104 | 822 | 55 | 0.067 | 0 |
| Kroger® Grade A Large Eggs | 12 ct | $1.79 | 840 | 72 | 469 | 40 | 0.086 | 2220 |
| Kroger® Naturally Hardwood Smoked Bacon | 16 oz | $5.49 | 2416 | 181 | 440 | 33 | 0.075 | 453 |
| Simple Truth Organic® Extra Firm Tofu | 15.5 oz | $1.79 | 413 | 47 | 231 | 26 | 0.112 | 0 |
| Kroger® Boneless Skinless Chicken Tenderloins | 2.5 lb | $9.99 | 1000 | 220 | 100 | 22 | 0.220 | 450 |
| Boca Original Veggie Crumbles | 12 oz | $3.49 | 358 | 66 | 103 | 19 | 0.183 | 0 |
| Kroger® Jumbo Russet Potatoes | 8 lb | $4.99 | 2863 | 78 | 574 | 16 | 0.027 | 0 |
| Kroger 80% Lean Ground Beef | 1 lb | $5.49 | 1160 | 76 | 211 | 14 | 0.066 | 1160 |
This isn't to say that somehow vegan foods demolish carnist foods every time. But looking at that list, you'd be hard-pressed to say that vegan food is so much more expensive than carnist food. Especially given that 1. all those carnist food are heavily subsidized and 2. laden with antibiotics, cholesterol, and E Coli. If you go to grab more comparable products like antibiotic-free eggs, the price hikes by 55%, dropping it to 26 g protein/dollar, which is dead even with tofu.
This also does not constitute an endorsement of any product listed herein or the Kroger company. Look around at your own local food retailer. If their prices aren't online take some pictures of items in the store with your phone and then make your own spreadsheet. I'd be surprised if anyone walked away from that exercise thinking that vegan food is only for the rich.
Even though vegan foods are just not any more expensive than carnist food, you simply cannot justify torturing animals by saying "It's so economical". So what if your premade corn dogs now are double the price per ounce? Consider it a tax for never having to eat extruded pig rectum again.
Let's ignore that vegan food is no more expensive than meat and assume that food you eat at home is now 50% more expensive. The median cost for food is $8 a day, which over a year represents an increase of less than $1500, which is easily within negotiating distance on even a modest salary.
But if you go out to eat even once in a while then you'll easily steamroll this imaginary difference because vegan alternatives at a restaurant are always cheaper. A salad and a baked potato at a steakhouse will always be cheaper (and healthier) than the steak; the vegetable soup at a cafe will be cheaper (and healthier) than fried chicken. But even if you don't believe that, consider also that by the same source above eating out costs 4 times as much. That means this entire imaginary price hike could be negated by just eating one more meal at home than out per week.
Carnists will claim that their favorite restaurant isn't vegan. Given that eating out costs more than eating at home, the claim then contradicts one's own habits as it would save money to eat in.