The Meconomy Is Coming for Animal Products

A survey of 6,000 adults across the UK, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US found that people who regularly buy plant-based meat and dairy alternatives are mainly doing it for health. Not animals. Not climate collapse. Not the living beings reduced to ingredients, products and supply chains. Health. Two thirds of regular buyers of plant-based meat alternatives cited health as their main reason. The same was true for dairy alternatives.

This is the “Meconomy”. A world where people are more likely to act when the benefit feels personal. Their body. Their bank account. Their food bill. Their future health. Their own resources. And now price is moving in the same direction.

Retail data from Germany, Spain and the UK shows animal flesh has become far more expensive since 2019, with beef prices rising particularly sharply. In Germany and the UK, plant-based meat alternatives have gone from being more expensive than processed animal flesh in 2019 to cheaper by 2025. Beans, lentils and tofu have stayed relatively cheap too. So the old excuses are falling apart. People were told plant-based eating was too expensive. Too niche. Too inconvenient. Too difficult. Too much of a sacrifice.

Now the market is saying something different. Animal products are expensive. Plant proteins can be cheaper. Plant-based eating can support health. A high-quality plant-based diet has even been associated with a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease and other dementias, while lower-quality diets are associated with increased risk.

But there is a danger here.

If we only sell plant-based products through self-interest, we leave the central injustice untouched. We teach people to ask: “What do I get out of this?” instead of “Who is being used?”

Health matters to people. Cost matters to people. Convenience matters to people. Fine. Use that. Make the change easy. Make the products affordable. Make plant proteins normal. But veganism is not a consumer trend, a wellness plan or a cheaper trolley.

Veganism is the rejection of animal exploitation. The market can move people away from animal products. Justice has to explain why they should never have been considered products in the first place.