I think it’s actually a good thing that people are increasingly curious and informed about where the things they consume come from. Sure, some of it can be a front, but consumers get a choice to be more discriminating and demanding about where their consumption comes from, and that can (and has!) lead to better production practices; feels weird to complain about that.
This is also a huge part. A lot of the "look at this insane price for coffee" is because exploitative practices for centuries has led to people having price expectations for coffee that are unreasonable in a fair market. There's definitely crazy high end coffees that are $20 a cup for various reasons, but $6 pounds of coffee from the grocery store are also an anomaly.
Unfortunately most people would not want to pay market rates for coffee that is farmed by people paid living wages. Kona coffee is a good example of this. It runs about USD $25-$30/lb in bean form for actual Kona coffee (not blends)
Sure, but that's essentially the thrust of the OP. "Look at these decadent vapid influencers drinking their expensive (but fairly priced) coffee. Why can't I just get basic cheap (exploitative wage based) coffee any more in this modern city? Surely they're the ones forsaking value and tradition."
A lot of critiques of modern coffee are based in a sort of silent "but I got used to the benefits of imperial colonialism and exploitation. How dare these new people make me consider where my drinks are from and what should be paid for them." I'm certainly not claiming that's a conscious thing - status quo bias is a big thing here, but it's odd how often "paying a living wage" and "caring about sustainable farming" is decried as decadence and depravity that's destroying the old and more honorable ways of living.
There aren't even proper recipes. You could go to 3 different cafes on the same street, order the same thing, and get 3 totally different results. Afogato? Every barista has their own "personal experience". The names they use aren't even "real" anymore.
Not coffee-related but the first thing on top of my head: They sell bacon here in Iran, and for those unaware, pork is haram in Islam, thus illegal to sell, produce, or consume. It's just cuts of beef or lamb that they sell as bacon! And the catch? It's more expensive.
billing is one of those things that I realize is deeper and more complicated every time you talk to somebody who thinks about it for their job; usage based pricing makes it even more so, interesting to read about how companies are adapting to that
In year 0-6, I would think the latter case comes up better, assuming (which is definitely true at like, all large tech companies) that yearly stock + 401k match (not even touching tax benefits) is better than 1/3 of your salary?
I would think stock + 401k > 1/3 salary basically
(this was true for me at Workday, anyway)
My partner is studying the effects of cow grazing on various greenhouse gas things, and the amount of data you need to get/the number of times you need to replicate before policy makers are willing to step in, is really quite substantial.
I showed this article to her last year when it popped up, and she said "show me a large sample size and replicate it stateside and then I'll start caring."
harsh, but I think that's where we are with this kind of thing.
Also, "they found it reduced methane production by more than 99 percent in the lab."
In the lab? On "bacteria found in the stomach of cows"?
That's a long way off from what the title suggests; this research is definitely still valuable, but I think we do scientific reporting a disservice when we make much bolder claims than the actual science bears out.
