Plant-based cooking could lower grocery bills, Mississippi instructor says

Charles Smith, a Food for Life instructor in Jackson, says switching to a whole food, plant-based diet can cut grocery bills and improve health, according to a guest essay for Mississippi Today. Smith wrote that Mississippi now has the fifth-highest grocery prices in the country, estimated at $291 per week, and that changes to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program could increase costs and red tape for one in eight Mississippians.

In the essay, Smith said he teaches virtual and in-person classes showing people how to buy inexpensive plant-based staples in bulk, including at dollar and discount stores, and how to turn them into multiple meals. He cited oats as an example, saying a large bag can be used for breakfast, as a binder in bean burgers and as a base for cookies. He also described a versatile black bean chili made with salt-free canned beans and tomatoes that can serve as chili, chili over brown rice or as taco filling.

Smith wrote that obesity is a chronic problem in Mississippi, with about 40% of adults classified as obese, and that he cited new research published in JAMA estimating nearly 47% of the U.S. population will be obese by 2035. He said science supports that a whole food, plant-based diet can help people lose weight and prevent or reverse some diseases, and that his students find the approach both simpler and cheaper after learning a few techniques.

Smith, who retired from the insurance industry after 45 years and has served as a children’s pastor in Jackson for more than 35 years, is the founder and CEO of My Health My Mississippi and the author of “7 Steps to Raising Amazing Children,” the essay noted. He wrote that he adopted a plant-based lifestyle after a month-long church fast more than 20 years ago and that his work is inspired in part by his mother’s death at 58 from obesity-related health issues.

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