Say No to $100 fish

The practice of eating fish for Lent is rooted in one of the pillars of Lent, namely, almsgiving.

Fish became a staple on the Lenten menu because, historically, fish was cheaper than other types of meat. The monetary savings made from abstaining from more expensive meats, such as beef and lamb, were then given as alms to the poor.

To fall prey to Lenten price gouging will be, therefore, to stray far from the very spirit of Lenten almsgiving. All things being equal, it stands to reason that when one buys fish at an exorbitant price it reduces one’s ability to give alms to the poor.

Christian consumers, or any consumer for that matter, should not entertain the unconscionable thought of paying $100 per pound for fish for Lent. Lent does not demand that we eat fish.

What the Lenten season asks of us is that we make personal sacrifices for the good of others.

The phenomenon of high-priced fish at Lent is related to more than the law of supply and demand.

The hike is due more to the phenomenon of price gouging that depleted fish stocks in the Gulf of Paria, or fish shortages due to increased consumption. Price gouging is a moral issue: it is the immoral act of suppliers demanding higher prices for goods when they believe that consumers are desperate for the purchase of a particular good.

This is the kind of extortion that sometimes takes place in the aftermath of a hurricane when there is urgent need for water, medicine and roofing material. In the local context, the practice takes place as well at our nation’s hospitals when unscrupulous characters sell a pint of blood for as much as $1,500.

Price gouging, creates perceived and artificial shortages in times of human desperation. It is absolutely wrong to take advantage of people’s vulnerability and desperation. It is an immoral use of commerce, an immoral use of the market.

Commerce as an institution is meant to sustain social life, not undermine it. Commerce ought to be humane, not inhuman.

The Catholic Church is clear that commerce and markets must be moral. A moral market says no to price gouging. A moral market says not all goods demanded should be supplied, and not all goods supplied should be demanded.

Clearly, no one must pay for blood in order to save a life. Civil society must step in and put blood-sellers out of business by donating blood.

Clearly, we should not buy fish at $60, $70 or $100 per pound. Save money by purchasing a cheaper meat and give the savings to the poor.