I would argue that that’s because you should be paid more money. That’s why I’m not suggesting we should be paying more. Just kind of wondering what foods are “artificially” priced low due to exploitation of labour (etc).
The size. Longer pianos, upright < baby grand < concert grand allow for longer strings and larger vibrating surfaces, meaning richer sounds and less opportunity for undesirable harmonics.
Grands also have more space for better mechanical apparatus from the keys to the hammers striking the strings.
And a grand having the cabinet with strings and sounding boards open to the audience sounds better than an upright sending sound into a wall.
Always thought garlic bread is such a steal. Often you can get 2 (small) baguettes for less than £1 and G Bread is so good. When my plans of world domination come in, free garlic bread for everyone is first on the agenda.
Snack cakes. Do you want to know why America has an obesity epidemic?
Because a whole box of Swiss cake rolls is $2.50 at Walmart and a deli salad is $5.00.
Minusland is a dark, gloomy region far beneath the surface of the Earth, filled up entirely with fog, and inhabited only by the invisible and highly dangerous Gnoolies, creatures which, with a single bite, turn their victims into more Gnoolies
I would argue that of the three items you listed (bananas, coffee, chocolate) that the main reason those items are “cheap” is exploitation of the workers and economies of the global south.
This is just one popular science article on the topic, and it just brushes the surface of how colonial politics have stripped the global south of resources while simultaneously building capital in the global north.
Enslaving and killing ethnic groups en masse, creating a surveillance police state, imprisoning people for criticizing the government, making their people work in sweat shops to rule and manipulate global manufacturing, collecting personal information on every person on earth, militarily and financially supporting the worst despots on the planet?
And that’s exactly what China does? They don’t do unilateral trade agreements. They don’t impose their policies on countries they make deals with. They are equal partners. Which is why most countries in Africa prefer China as a partner than the US or EU nowadays…
“This Jacobo, he’s making us pay minimum wages!.. and that’s not all, he’s taking our unused land and giving it back to the people! Does that sound familiar?”
I think there’s a certain power dynamic that comes with looking and acting older. If you look the same age or younger than your kids, that power dynamic is most likely going to slowly shift. It’d be like if you’re in your 40s working for a guy who looks like he’s in his 20s. While possible, I imagine it’d be a challenging arrangement. Not to mention how your kids would feel about your decision as a parent to take an age reversal pill.
Out-of-sync not only in lifestyle but you’d now be young enough to possibly outlive your loved ones. Thats a special hell, I’d imagine, burying your parents, wife, and children all because you took a pill to make you younger.
And even then, with chocolate, costs are rising. You can tell by how prevalent things like “chocolatey chips” are.
We’ve gotten too used to having cheap coffee and chocolate, and I’m disappointed with the substitutes…too bad I can’t afford the ethical stuff quite yet, lol
It kind of makes sense though. Pasta is cheap too. Most ramen packs are less noodles than you’d get in a bag of pasta, but with a bit of packaged salt/seasoning mix. It can also be manufactured anywhere with stuff that grows locally (at least where I am).
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
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