I buy organic food whenever I can even though it’s more expensive because it tastes better or is healthier. Yes, it can be hard to look at a jar of mayonnaise that’s not organic, tastes very similar, and is half the price of organic mayonnaise, and not buy it. But when that happens, I just don’t look at it. I pretend it doesn’t exist. I reframe the situation and say to myself, “Organic food is normal food. You can have a discount on your food if you’re okay with people messing with your food but I’m not okay with that. So organic food prices are normal food prices. It’s the only game in town, and it’s cheap compared to making your own mayonnaise. Organic food is also cheap compared to not having food.”
Consumers always wanting to buy the cheaper mayonnaise makes mayonnaise makers want to do whatever they can to cut their costs, which is often worse for the food and the mayonnaise eater’s health. Being willing to pay more for better mayonnaise would encourage mayonnaise makers to make better mayonnaise. Let’s go that way instead. Let’s go up instead of down.
We recently paid $60 for a large side of wild-caught salmon at Costco, which was, of course, much more than the same amount of farmed salmon but I just reframe it. $60 is a bargain compared to what you’d pay for the same amount of salmon in a restaurant. $60 is cheap compared to hiring someone to take you on a tour, teach you how to catch wild salmon, and then having them share their catch with you. $60 is cheap compared to the alternative of not having salmon.