20061025

1440 hrs October 25th 2006

My dear friend Ms K

told me that there is

a specialised store

at Vivio City

that sells organic food.

A carton of milk $12.

Just how the hell fuck

can a carton of organic milk

cost 3 times more than normal???

I understand the clamour

for organic food.

In the age of mad cow diseases,

bird flu, hand foot and mouth diseases,

the food you eat

that is supposed to nourish

can actually kill you.

I also understand

that it costs more

to farm crops organically.

Without the use of chemical pesticides

and fertilizers,

it would naturally lead

to the lowering of

harvest yields.

Also without the use of preservatives

will lead

to shorter shelf life too.

But can a carton of organic milk

cost 3 times more???

Mathematically, it simply

does not add up.

I'm sure the cost

of raw food

at supermarkets

is probably a minor component

of total costs that a consumer pays.

Let's have a hypothetical breakdown

of supermarket costs of raw food.

Say,

raw food 20%
rental 30%
staff 20%
marketing 20%
transport 10%
TOTAL 100%


Now,

for organic foods on the shelf,

except for raw food,

all other costs should

remain about the same.

So to solve for 3 times increase

in price, the numbers look like this

raw food 220%
rental 30%
staff 20%
marketing 20%
transport 10%
TOTAL 300%


Does it make sense that

the cost of organic food

is 11 times more (220/20) ???

Just who is bullshitting who???

How much of that $12 per carton

of organic milk,

actually goes to the farmer???

I'm sure as hell,

not 11 times more.

The more obvious answer,

is the retailer

is making a killing

from organic food

by promoting scare tactics.

I don't think my hypothetical numbers

are that far off reality.