meat is carcinogenic. as for fruits and vegetables, i'm hoping that someday the local food production revolution will start picking up steam and help make these more cost effective, perhaps with some automation or vertical farming. for now, focus on things you can get for less than 1$/lb like bananas, apples, bell peppers, onions, cauliflower/broccoli (when it's on sale). Cabbage 50c/lb even here in CA.
I think OP is referring to carcinogenic effects linked to red meat - in some ways it‘s healthier because its iron is the easiest to absorb, in some ways it‘s not by giving you 20% or so higher risk of intestinal cancer if you consume more than a certain amount - don’t remember the details. My stance is, duh, everything at the right dose (like 30-50g per day on average would be my bet for red meat and red fish). Plenty of animal protein sources are AFAIK not linked to adverse effects as long as you‘re not overstressing your kidneys, i.e. eggs, white meat/fish, cheese.
There's also some evidence that high levels of iron are linked to intestinal cancer.[0] So maybe the meat is just a proxy of iron. My takeaway is that the links between X food and Y disease are still largely a mystery. The correlation may be there, but the cause is not understood.
There is some evidence suggesting an association between red meat consumption and colorectal cancers. I don't think the link is well-enough understood to suggest it's a causal one, but I also don't think it's any longer supported to flatly dismiss any possible links out of hand like that.
