Not milk?

I am once again asking you to, when presented with a complaint about the problem of paying a 75-cent or even one-damn-dollar upcharge for a non-dairy milk, not reply with something oversimplified and inaccurate about the "cost" of non-dairy milks. 

It's different from, for example, adding an espresso shot, which might cost 50 more cents of espresso. First of all, in latte situations, when someone gets oat latte instead of cow latte, you may be adding ("costing more") oat milk but you are ALSO SUBTRACTING the cow milk. Did you account for that in your "cost"? 

Secondly, when we're talking about adding a splash of soy milk to coffee, it should be far less than using the latte amount of the soy milk . Starbucks is correct to not charge for a soy splash. Dunkin' needs to get itself together on this. 

Third, the alt-milk per-drink "costs" at all coffee shops, chain and independents, are nonsense.  I can buy an almond or soy or whatever milk carton for $3 in any store retail -- and that amount of milk is way the heck more than 3 drinks, but you want to charge a third of that carton price for adding non-dairy to ONE drink? AND, coffee shops get a lesser-per-carton wholesale price to begin with. 

Furthermore, dairy milk is environmentally less sustainable, plus nightmarishly cruel to calves and mother cows, yanking away a newborn baby. So the ethical, morally sound thing to do would be to upcharge for dairy even if there were some accurate "cost." (Plus the dairy milk does have a financial cost, but it is massively produced and subsidized and powerfully lobbied. You aren't paying the true cost of cow milk. Also, in addition to the heavily subsidized dairy lobby finances, there is very much a greater "cost" for cow milk, but you are paying it with the Earth, desperate cows, tortured calves, and your soul.) 

Finally, even if the coffee shop charges a b.s. dollar for oat milk normally, a free drink should be a free drink. When we redeem our points, the oat/almond/soy whatever should be completely and totally $0.00 free of charge, but some locations upcharge for the alt-milks in a "free" rewards drink.  That is terrible. There really is a lot more going on here than "oh it costs more." 

I've noted before that when I find a coffee shop who gives free soy, almond, etc. and instead upcharges for dairy, they will have my business forever. 

Oh yeah, and, humans? If you aren't at the VERY dang least using a non-dairy milk in your cereal now, you need to make this life correction immediately. It is unconscionable to continue to buy rip-the-calf-away milk for your cereal, no matter how whiny you are about needing dairy milk for baking, coffee, and taste, or in your delusional "nutrition" uses. If you "don't like" the taste of non-dairy milk in cereal, you are eating. the. wrong. cereal. -- you should be tasting the cereal, not the milk. 

Feel free to share my words with your coffee shops and everyone you know. 

Do better. 
#upchargefordairy