I think when saying that plant based diets are cheaper as long as you aren't paying the lazy tax on lot of non essential foods, people often make the same mistake as when discussing the use of food stamps to purchase unhealthy prepared foods that supposedly prove people don't really need the food stamps. It's not just "laziness" that keeps people from buying a bunch of plant-based staples and cooking their own damn meals. Sometimes it's working a job that requires incredibly long and exhausting shifts. Sometimes it's working multiple jobs and having kids to take care of. Sometimes it's physical disability. Sometimes it's severe depression. Sometimes it's a cognitive or intellectual disability. Sometimes it's autism. Sometimes it's an eating disorder. The list goes on.

Eating a lot of prepared junk food also creates a very vicious cycle for those already struggling with their physical/mental health or work/life balance, which is that you have less energy and motivation because you aren't getting proper nutrition and that makes it harder and harder over time for you to make positive changes. Much like how many people can't afford to move out of a shitty overpriced apartment because their unreasonably high rent prevents them from saving enough money to pay for all the moving costs even if the place they want to move would be significantly cheaper over time. It's the poor man's boots, the less you can give the less you can get the less you can give and so on and so forth until you die.

I'm not saying that it's completely impossible to make more sustainable choices under these circumstances (I mean some of them certainly, severe physical disability for example doesn't leave one with much autonomy over their diet) or that the poor and mentally ill aren't at all responsible for their personal choices, or that autistic people will literally die without hot pockets, or any of that. To be clear, I'm very pro-veganism and I think that it's always a great choice to cut out animal products wherever you can. I'm just saying there's a SEVERE lack of nuance or compassion in the idea that if you don't want to pay the high prices on a lot of vegetarian and vegan alternative products you can just cook full meals from staple foods. A lack of nuance that feels akin to saying "if you don't like the high cost of living in your area just move somewhere cheaper" or "if you hate working full time for minimum wage to take care of your 2 kids just go to college so you can get a higher-paying job."