Editor:

The rising prices of meat, milk, cheese, and eggs -- due to the sky-rocketing costs of animal feed -- have many people fretting about their financial future. There's no need to despair: You can save money by switching to a vegan diet.

Some of the most versatile vegan foods -- including beans, rice, vegetables, tofu, and pasta -- cost relatively little compared to animal products. Even vegans who buy costlier products like soy sausage and nondairy ice cream can still spend less than people who load up on meat, milk, and eggs.

Cows, pigs, chickens, and other farmed animals are fed more than 70 percent of the grains grown in the United States. It is more efficient and economical to eat grains and soybeans -- and all the foods that can be made from them -- directly rather than funneling them through animals. A 2002 "E Magazine" article estimated that the amount of feed needed to produce just one 8-ounce steak would fill 45 to 50 bowls with cooked cereal grains.

And if you regularly shell out extra money for fatty, cholesterol laden animal products, you may eventually land in the hospital, racking up enough medical bills to put you in the poorhouse.

Of course, the most important savings of all can't be put in a bank -- each vegan saves more than 100 animals every year. Visit www.GoVeg.com if you want to save animals, your health, the environment, and money.

HEATHER MOORE, Norfolk, Va.

Senior writer, People for the

Ethical Treatment of Animals