How much does a burger cost? at a Wendy's or McDonalds, between one and five dollars.
But how much does it really cost us? What do we, collectively, give up for a burger?
According to Raj Patel, economist and political scientist, it costs us a lot more than five bucks.
When you factor the alternative services you lose when you chop down a forest to make soy plantations or whatever, factor in the the biodiversity you lose, and if you could put a dollar sign on the the social costs to cheap laborers mining tomatoes and lettuce for pennies, it amounts to around $200.00, says Raj Patel.
We as consumers don't pay all those costs. But just coz you can't see 'em doesn't mean they're not there. Those costs dissipate through the environment, and what could have been. Those costs dissipate in the opportunity costs that bleary-eyed laborers endure for a dream of a life they in effect give up.
I love burgers, but you gotta admit, this all puts us in quite a pickle, like we are sandwiched between a rock and a hard place.
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