Some vegetarians spend less money on food, others don't

- True vegetarians spend less money on food than meat eaters.
- Lower expenditures by vegetarians are partly due to the foods they eat.
- Lower expenditures by vegetarians are partly due to different demographics than meat eaters.
- Some people say they are vegetarian but eat or buy meat, and they spend more money on food than meat eaters.

Vegetarianism is often promoted as a more ethical and less expensive diet. This study tests whether vegetarians do indeed spend less on food. A large U.S. internet survey consisting of 24,537 respondents is used to determine whether the self-reported food expenditures for vegetarians are different from their meat eating counterparts. Compared to meat eaters, results show that “true” vegetarians do indeed report lower food expenditures. They spend less partly due to the foods they eat and partly due to different demographics. We also find that some individuals self-identify as vegetarians even though they sometimes eat or buy meat, and this category of consumer spends more money on food than meat eaters. This demonstrates that there are at least two different types of self-identified vegetarians.