Is Sustainable Snacking Affordable? Cost Comparison of Old vs. New Food Innovations

There’s a common belief that sustainable food is always more expensive. And while that may feel true in some cases, the full picture is more nuanced—especially when it comes to snacks.

Traditional snacks often rely on resource-heavy ingredients, long supply chains, and large-scale farming systems that quietly build hidden costs over time. Those costs may not appear on a price tag, but they show up elsewhere—in land use, energy, water, and food waste.

Newer food innovations, like mycelium-based snacks, follow a very different path. Mycelium grows quickly, cleanly, and efficiently, using far fewer inputs. It doesn’t need large fields, heavy processing, or long transport routes. This often means less cost behind the scenes, which can make sustainable snacking more accessible than people expect.

While some innovations are still scaling and may cost slightly more upfront, many are already matching or beating the cost of traditional snacks in the long term. The real shift is recognizing that affordability isn’t just about the price today—it’s about what we’re investing in tomorrow.

Sometimes, food that’s gentler on the planet is also gentler on your wallet.