New Survey: This Festive Season, Nearly Half of U.S. Consumers Say Prices Drive Grocery Purchases

WASHINGTON, D.C. — A new Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine/Morning Consult survey shows most U.S. consumers plan to spend about $100 on their main holiday meal this year. As food costs continue to rise, the Physicians Committee, a national nonprofit health advocacy group, has tips for slashing that number in half.

Xavier Toledo, a registered dietitian with the 17,000-doctor-member Physicians Committee, devised a delicious holiday spread for five with familiar foods like bread stuffing, mashed potatoes, homemade gravy, jellied cranberry sauce, mac and “cheese,” and pumpkin pie, all for under $50!

According to the Physicians Committee survey, nearly 60% of adults say they’d consider opting for a plant-based holiday meal if they had a convincing reason to do so. Among younger adults ages 18-34, that figure jumps to more than three-quarters.

“If you told most people they could reduce their holiday grocery bill, feel better after dinner, and still enjoy familiar comfort foods, I’m sure many would do it in a heartbeat,” said Toledo.

The Physicians Committee poll included 2,203 U.S. adults surveyed Oct. 4 to Oct. 6, 2025. Nearly half say the cost of food at the supermarket is important to them when deciding what to buy.

Pew research shows the cost of meats, poultry, fish, and eggs has seen the fastest inflation of any food category since January 2020; prices are up 36.4%. Additionally, new data from the American Farm Bureau Federation show wholesale turkey prices are up about 40% compared with last year, driven by both economic pressures and poultry disease outbreaks, including avian influenza.

“When people picture a plant-based meal, they might not imagine gravy, rolls, and pie—but that’s exactly what’s on the table here,” Toledo added. “This spread tastes indulgent, feels familiar, and just happens to be nourishing and made from plants—and that small shift makes a big difference for your wallet and your health.”

Physicians Committee’s plant-based holiday “meal deal”

Mains

• Vegan Sweet Potato Shepherd’s Pie (6 servings): $7.93
• Vegan Butternut Squash Mac and “Cheese” (6 servings): $6.37

Sides

• Vegan Stuffing (modified) (6 servings): $9.07
• Mashed Potatoes (5 servings): $6.14
• Maple Dijon Green Beans (5 servings): $1.99
• Easy Maple Roasted Carrots (5 servings): $2.19

Gravy, Cranberry Sauce, and Rolls

• Mushroom Gravy (5 servings): $1.85
• Jellied Cranberry Sauce (store bought, premade) (6 servings): $3.69
• Cheesecake Factory “Brown Bread” Wheat Rolls (8 servings): $3.98

Desserts

• Vegan Pumpkin Pie (8 servings): $5.95

Total cost of meal: $49.16

Notes:

*If a family would like to include a Turk’y roast for tradition’s sake, that would increase the price to about $63 total.

•These estimates reflect the exact quantities used in each recipe—not full-package prices. If someone were buying every ingredient from scratch, their grocery bill would be higher. But for anyone who already has common pantry staples on hand and plans to use the leftover ingredients for other dishes, this is a fair reflection of the true recipe cost.

A plant-based diet is often less expensive than the Standard American Diet, research confirms, including:

• Physicians Committee research published in JAMA Network Open in 2024 showed a low-fat vegan diet cut food costs by 19%, or $1.80 per day, when compared with a Standard American Diet that included meat, dairy, and other animal products. The decrease in costs on the low-fat vegan diet was mainly attributable to savings of $2.90 per day on meat, 50 cents per day on dairy products, and 50 cents per day on added fats. These savings outweighed the increased spending of 50 cents per day on vegetables, 30 cents per day on grains, and 50 cents per day on meat alternatives on the vegan diet.
• A 2021 Oxford University study found eating a vegan diet could cut consumers’ food bills by up to one-third, based on modeling data and including the diet-related costs of climate change and health care.
• A 2022 study found plant-based consumers spent less on food than any other consumer group.

The benefits don’t stop at saving money. A plant-based diet can support weight management and help prevent—and in some cases even reverse—lifestyle-related diseases like heart disease, obesity, and type 2 diabetes. The diet can also reduce risk for certain cancers.

Mr. Toledo’s “A Dietitian’s Guide to a Plant-Based Thanksgiving” includes all of the recipes in the $50 meal spread and more.