system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: If producing meat takes so much more energy than producing vegetables and fruits why is being vegan or vegetarian so much more expensive? Are there government subsidies or other measure that help the meat industry more than generally farming produce?
gpt
* If producing meat takes so much more energy than producing vegetables and fruits why is being vegan or vegetarian so much more expensive?

It's not. It's only more expensive if you mostly eat out or only buy prepared foods. The raw ingredients for cooking vegetarian and vegan meals at home is absolutely cheaper.

It's true that vegetarian / vegan prepared foods are more expensive on average: for example veggie burgers are more expensive than the same amount of ground beef patties.

The main reason for this is supply and demand, and economies of scale. Fewer people eat veggie burgers so they need to charge more to stay in business. A lot more quantity of beef is sold, and there's a lot more competition, so the profit margin is less.

As the number of vegetarians and vegans - or just people who enjoy meatless food on occasion - grows, more competition is likely to drive these prices down.

> Are there government subsidies or other measure that help the meat industry more than generally farming produce?

Yes, that's true too. Meat and dairy get a lot of subsidies that artificially lower the price.