I have a labor intensive contracting job. I also have a very high metabolism and am skinny as a rail. I cannot afford the 10 bags of beans or rice a day I would need to maintain at least 3000-3500 calories a day. If I tried that, I would literally die. I've done it before for a year. A whole year of weakness and sickness and extreme weight loss, and I couldn't tolerate it anymore. I get bulk things like cheap Costco boxes of hamburger patties and stuff like that, which I CAN afford. I am well aware of animal suffering. You don't have to tell me again and again that my existence is fucked up, because I know.
In the US, fresh veggies are more expensive than energy-dense fatty proteins.