Spending with a conscience
And people do genuinely want to feel they are being fair in their spending, otherwise there wouldn’t be brands such as Fairtrade. So on the face of it this extra 50 cents would seem like a good idea.
But even if that 50 cents wasn’t gobbled up as profit by the cafe owner and made its way to the farmer, they aren’t the only ones who could use a bit more cash to make the world a better place.
Sugar cane farmers could surely do with more dollars per kilogram, as could dairy farmers.
Not necessarily to ensure they are able to get a better quality of meat on their table but to give them the ready finances to ameliorate their farm’s environmental impact.
After all, the cost of converting to doing business cleanly is always the main problem in taking up new farming methods and it would be fair on all of us if barriers to these new methods were removed as soon as possible.
The price of a cup of coffee should also probably be inflated a bit more so fuel suppliers that provide the petrol and diesel to get the coffee beans to the cafe, are paid for the true cost of the oil.
That is one that takes into account fossil fuel’s impact on the climate. The extra money would give government’s a handy fund to dip into when it needs to deal with the impacts of global warming or research into technology to wean us off fossil fuel. Both deserving areas for expenditure.
If those limited factors were taken into account the cost of a cuppa would surely be approaching $6 or more.
But add in the cost of the bureaucracies necessary to ensure this money is getting to where it should and suddenly coffee might be out of reach of just about everyone.
Having a social conscience about what we consume is a luxury of those who have more than enough and generally New Zealanders are in that position, even if it might not feel like it.
However if were to really start thinking about what we pay for goods and services and making sure it reflected not only a true cost but a fair cost, we would become price paralysed.
That’s not to say such feelings are not admirable. It’s just an admission that meddling with a market to achieve genuine fairness is not as simple as paying 50 cents more for your coffee.