I agree with your criticism towards the source. "Being vegan is expensive" is quite a generalized statement in need of citation from someone holding up "high scientific standards", though. I am convinced it is false in its generality. (Convenience and substitute products are expensive, but in no way necessary.)

Da waren sie aber jetzt streng

Tbh I don't see where this is bad (except maybe the 0 label). Why should "up" always be "better"? There are countless other examples where this is not the case. Or am I missing something here?

Ich glaub du bist da was ganz heißem auf der Spur https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mem