Bananas are ridiculously cheap even up here in Canada, and they aren’t grown anywhere near here. Yet a banana can grow, be harvested, be shipped, be stocked, and then be purchased by me for less than it’d cost to mail a letter across town. (Well, if I could buy a single banana maybe…or maybe that’s not the best comparison, but I think you get my point)
Along the banana’s journey, the farmer, the harvester, the shipper, the grocer, the clerk, and the cashier all (presumably) get paid. Yet a single banana is mere cents. If you didn’t know any better, you might think a single banana should cost $10!
I’m presuming that this is because of some sort of exploitation somewhere down the line, or possibly loss-leading on the grocery store’s side of things.
I’m wondering what other products like bananas are a lot cheaper than they “should” be (e.g., based on how far they have to travel, or how difficult they are to produce, or how much money we’re saving “unethically”).
I’ve heard that this applies to coffee and chocolate to varying extents, but I’m not certain.
Anyone know any others?
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.
https://daily.jstor.org/fruit-geopeelitics-americas-banana-republics/
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.
This single pane comic is the jist of it.
Hold up. We exploit South America pretty hard too.
Absolutely, the comic was from a piece on Imperialism from Europe in Africa, but a more comprehensive one would show the entire global south dug up.
China is currently colonizing Africa and SE Asia as well.
What about Asia? Are we forgetting Africa is China’s China right now?
100%. Exploitation is not limited to one continent or group of people.
If China does to Africa what they did to themselves, that would be awesome!
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?
Why are you talking about the US? And literally what the Europeans did to Africa for centuries.
Yes, both are terrible. Africa should be run by Africans.
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…
Southeast Asia, Australia, and parts of the US chosen to accommodate for national debt would like to have a word with you.
“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?”
Without a doubt. And when it’s things that can only grow in those parts of the world, it can be harder to find alternatives.
Not that I can afford them, lol