Bananas are ridiculously cheap even up here in Canada, and they aren’t grown anywhere near here. Yet a banana can grow, be harvested, be shipped, be stocked, and then be purchased by me for less than it’d cost to mail a letter across town. (Well, if I could buy a single banana maybe…or maybe that’s not the best comparison, but I think you get my point)

Along the banana’s journey, the farmer, the harvester, the shipper, the grocer, the clerk, and the cashier all (presumably) get paid. Yet a single banana is mere cents. If you didn’t know any better, you might think a single banana should cost $10!

I’m presuming that this is because of some sort of exploitation somewhere down the line, or possibly loss-leading on the grocery store’s side of things.

I’m wondering what other products like bananas are a lot cheaper than they “should” be (e.g., based on how far they have to travel, or how difficult they are to produce, or how much money we’re saving “unethically”).

I’ve heard that this applies to coffee and chocolate to varying extents, but I’m not certain.

Anyone know any others?

  • BloodSlut@lemmy.world
    231·
    11 months ago

    beef, corn, and almonds

    beef takes up an incredible amount of land and water per ‘unit’ nutrition and has a profound impact on the local and global environment. it has an artificially low cost due to subsidies and cheap grain (corn) feed.

    feed corn isnt really consumable by humans and takes a large percentage of land. its price is kept low by subsidies.

    almonds take a lot of water to grow and are commonly grown in regions where water is scarce and is provided to farmers for little to no monetary cost with few restrictions