This reminds me of something I've wondered about. It seems plausible that it's cheaper to be a vegetarian, but the last I checked, meat substitutes seem to cost about as much as meat.
Is it just that no one's been exploring how many people would like good cheap meat substitutes, or is there some reason meat substitutes are so expensive? Or are there cheap ones I haven't noticed?
Basically what Alicorn said. People aren't necessarily satisfied with the cheap ones that are available - mimicking the exact mouthfeel and flavor of meat is difficult, and because many of the original meat substitutes are from Asia, they weren't common here until fairly recently Mock duck, aka Seitan (made from wheat gluten) is cheap, and very popular in Asia, but it seems to be a perennial also-ran in the US. Back during my veggie days I tried using it, only to find out I have a minor glutease deficiency (not full-on coeliac, but enough that seitan cause...
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