an ode to coffee (why mass consumerism will ruin us all)

Starbucks has recently tested $1 coffee and free refills, in an effort to be more competitive with Dunkin Donuts and McDonalds. One dollar coffee. Does anyone else realize how absurdly cheap that is? I think, in our fast food nation, we’ve forgotten about the true cost of things.

When McDonalds turned beef into a commodity we could afford to eat every day (sometimes multiple times a day), it sent us hurtling down the road of cheap consumer goods (and global warming and obesity, but that’s a different post). Now, we’ve forgotten what quality means, and how much it really costs. I don’t eat meat, but even I can tell that the $2 Whopper at BK is nothing compared to the $35 steak at Morton’s. Comparing the two is like apples and oranges, and yet the comparison is made all the time. It is one thing not to be able to afford the pricey steak, it’s another to even think that the whopper is any sort of valid substitute. And yet, that’s what we’ve been led to believe.

And now, mass consumerism has ruined my favorite vice - coffee. Let me disclaim - I don’t drink Starbucks coffee. I find it overroasted and burnt. But I do respect them as a company because they tend to lead the socially conscious pack. I had hoped, as the economy took a downturn, that Starbucks would take a different approach - one of enhancing customer loyalty (perhaps even some in-store brewing of their fair trade blends). Instead, they’ve fallen prey to mass consumerism and cheaply produced goods.

Let me be blunt - $3 for coffee is not a lot. We just think otherwise, because we get so much crap for cheap. But good quality coffee should be expensive. It should also not be slugged down mugsful at a time (much like meat was never meant to be eaten so often). In a fairly priced market, with fair wages, coffee would possibly cost more. It should cost more.

One day, I want to see labeling detailing the true cost of goods. I want to know how many children were forced to carry 50-kilo bags of coffee cherries to make that cup of McDs brew. I want to know how many acres of rainforest were cleared for that cheap bag of beans from Dunkin. I want to know how much energy it took to produce my Starbucks latte.

The problem isn’t $3 for a cup of coffee. The problem is the ridiculous mark-up and the cheap cost of labor (and the strain on the global environment). I would like to think that Starbucks is taking a loss on that $1/cup in order to sell more, but I know that won’t be the case. Instead, they’ll undercut the Ethiopian co-ops and buy ridiculously cheap beans from subsistence farmers in Indonesia, further perpetuating the cycle of poverty and deforestation.

So I’m going to stick to my single-origin, fair-trade, organic, shade-grown beans and continue to brew my own $3 cup at home. I’m willing to pay the full price for quality and sustainability.

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