Monday, March 8, 2010

Soya Si Leche No

I know there are probably more important things going on in the world right now, but being annoyed often doesn’t follow a logical path. On my petty grievance scale, this is a six, and slowly moving up in the charts. Here’s some history:

I’ve been a big fan of espresso drinks for many years. Up until about ten years ago, whenever I ordered a soy cappuccino, I would be charged the same outrageous rate as your standard cow’s milk consumer. Suddenly, one day, while I was at my favorite caffeine dispensary, I noticed that these greedy capitalists were demanding a twenty five cent surcharge for the soy milk.

Outraged, I quizzed my barista over this matter, but he just muttered something about ‘’ just working here’’, and couldn’t do anything about the situation. His suggestion, was for me to have a regular cappuccino, but when I informed him about being a vegan, he gave me a look that had no habla ingles written all over it.

Over the ensuing years, the twenty five cent stipend has morphed into a seventy five cent charge at some establishments.

Many of you are aware that the dairy industry is heavily subsidized by the Dept of Agriculture, as are soybeans, corn and wheat. What I find particularly galling, is that you and I are supporting both the dairy and the soy bean industries. In this convoluted equation, most of the soy beans grown in this country are consumed by the cattle industry. Only Paul Krugman could figure out the macro economics of all this, but the bottom line is that every time I order a soy latte I feel as if I’m being screwed.

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