A Double Dose of Raj Patel

I sincerely hope that Raj is not just talking about the beef (4.00 / 3)

when he talks about the cost of the hamburger.

How about the thousands of acres of wheat that goes into flour production for all of those hamburger buns (and loaves of bread and even the flour we who don't buy store bought bread use to make our home made bread).

How about the thousands of acres it takes to produce the cucumbers that make the pickles on the sandwich, not to forget the food processing facility that it takes to turn the cucumbers into pickles, that we also buy at the store.

How about the lettuce that's grown to go on the hamburger, which acreages also produce lettuce that is sold in the stores so that we can make our own sandwiches and salads at home.

How about the tomatoes, hundreds of acres of tomatoes that also grace our sandwiches and salads at home and in sit down restaurants.

Might I also mention the onions, salt, pepper, mustard, ketchup (more tomatoes there), cheese, mayo (eggs, oils, citrus juices) all of which we all (or at least most of us in this country) buy at the stores.

I don't know if Raj was only refering to the beef industry, and maybe my fuse is a bit short on that topic, but when I hear someone mention the 'cost' of a hamburger, that always seems to be a poke at animal ag, while never mentioning that the vast majority of what that hamburger is made up of comes from plant agriculture. Just for once, I'd like to hear someone talk out about the industrial grain production system, and all the resources it takes up. But I suppose that's a bit of whishful thinking.

Regarding locavores as elitists - explain to me how supporting local business is elitist....

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by: Joanne Rigutto @ Thu Jan 14, 2010 at 02:40:38 AM UTC

my bet is that Patel (4.00 / 1)

is pretty much right on with this. He's a smart guy. I bet he's thinking about the plant part of it and the bun, etc. He mentioned if you have a tomato on it then it could have been picked by a slave.

"I can understand someone from Iowa promoting corn and soy, but we are not feeding the world, we are feeding animals and soft drink companies." - Jim Goodman

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by: Jill Richardson @ Thu Jan 14, 2010 at 03:49:00 AM UTC

[ Parent ]

I think (4.00 / 1)

price of cheap burger = price of expensive burger (one not causing any future problems) minus cost of future health problems minus cost of future eco problems

that's why it's so cheap - you only paying a fraction of the whole price now. So, I'd say the market priced it all right, it's the consumers who fail to see that 99 cents is not the whole price, it's just a first installment.

People like to repeat to each other that there in no free lunch but somehow it takes them a second to forget about it when they go shopping.  

It is no measure of health to be well adjusted to a profoundly sick society. J. Krishnamurti, author, speaker, and philosopher (1895 -1986)  

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by: leon @ Thu Jan 14, 2010 at 13:12:45 PM UTC