06/02/2026
What’s the beef with beans?
When it comes to choosing meat versus plant protein at the grocery store, it’s ... complicated.
An SFU researcher peeked into more than 87,000 grocery carts in Canada and Finland to study whether price really is the biggest factor shaping people’s protein preferences. Turns out, a variety of options (or lack thereof) is a pretty important piece of the puzzle.
“With meat, shoppers can usually trade down when prices are higher, choosing ground beef instead of steak, for example. If there are only two or three plant-based options on the shelf, consumers who want those products have fewer cheaper alternatives to switch to,” explains researcher Cameron McRae.
But here’s the good news: You can rack up instant savings just by swapping meat protein for whole foods like beans, lentils and peas two or three times a week, says McRae.
Check out the whole story below.
Incorporating more plant-based proteins could help people save on their grocery bill, but new research has found that it's not so simple when it comes to choices at the supermarket. Simon Fraser University researchers peeked into more than 87,000 grocery carts in Canada and Finland to study how much...
