By spending money at Starbucks you support GMOs, (genetically modified organisms), empower Monsanto, and hurt the grassroots efforts to label GMO products. In this article you can read more about what Starbucks prefers that you do not know.
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If you examine your buying habits thoroughly, you would probably notice that they are mostly based on decisions — informed or not. Decisions are one of the most common ways we build our personal world. However, there is a large misalignment when it comes to our tiny world decisions and the world we all share.
We have the power to choose and reconsider any decision we have made, including the decisions we make when it comes to our money and the way we spend it. If you like going to Starbucks, maybe you should think twice whether or not you should spend your money there. Keep reading to find out why.
“In the past 2 years alone, Starbucks has been a part of a GMA-led coalition that has donated more than $70 million dollars to defeat GMO labeling efforts in California and Washington State. By opposing GMO labeling, Starbucks has willingly climbed in bed with Monsanto and the GMA and is intentionally misleading customers about their commitment to “sustainability” and “ethical sourcing”.”
We decided to start with an update from the “GMO Inside” Campaign, whose purpose is to get GMOs out of the dairy products in Starbucks’ menu.
On March 4, 2014, Green America’s GMO Inside announced the beginning of an anti-GMO campaign. Their purpose was to pressure the company to stop using milk from cows fed with GMOs. They sent an impressive number of 150,505 letters to Starbucks, based on combined efforts of GMO Inside, Food Democracy Now!, Organic Consumers Association, and Friends of the Earth.
Support this campaign by sending a letter or a template letter to Starbucks CEO Howard Schultz. In this way you will contribute to our fight, and our efforts to urge the company to use GMO-free milk in their stores. The dairy products at Starbucks contain ‘Monsanto Milk,’ loaded with overpriced, unhealthy and fake ingredients!
“The days when a global company like Starbucks can hide GMOs from the customer are over. The age of transparency is here and I expect Starbucks will shortly realize it’s in its best interest to eliminate GMOs from its supply chain,” outlines GMO Inside Co-Chair John W. Roulac.
The Ramifications
Starbucks fights a significant battle on the anti-GMO front and once again, this proves that direct pressure via grassroots activism can achieve what a ballot box actually cannot. If Starbucks stops using “Monsanto Milk” in each of the 23,187 stores in 64 countries, and serves organic milk, the victory can greatly influence other companies to do the same, and the fall of Starbucks could result in a domino action.
The milk used in Starbucks products comes from CAFOs, or concentrated animal feeding operations. The cows are injected with antibiotics throughout their whole life, and fed with GMO food including, corn, soy, alfalfa, and cotton seeds, which interferes with proper farming.
The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) says that in 2011 Starbucks has used over “93 million gallons of milk per year, enough to fill 155 Olympic-sized swimming pools.” Take into consideration that Starbucks has grown since that time, and numbers have surely increased.
In 2007 OCA succeeded to pressure Starbucks to stop using rBGH growth hormone milk, a product of Monsanto. But, Starbucks turned this victory into an advertising success, outlining the fact that “since it stopped using milk that contains Monsanto’s rBGH growth hormone, it uses ‘GMO-free’ milk.” Nice try, Monsanto!
We must mention that the increased used of antibiotics by Big Agri-Business is an important factor for the massive spread of antibiotic-bacteria, which is a dangerous health risk for all of us.
Starbucks and GMO Food Labeling
Starbucks as a partner with Monsanto does not want to label any GMO foods. “As a dues-paying member of the Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA), Starbucks has helped bankroll efforts to defeat GMO labeling in the US for the past two years.
It’s time for Starbucks to commit to transparency and the highest quality ingredients for their customers,” explained Dave Murphy, founder and executive director of Food Democracy Now!
Starbucks is one of 300 dues-paying members of GMA. Their website outlines: they (the GMA) “represent [lobby for] the makers of the world’s favorite food, beverage and consumer products.”
If by chance you didn’t know, GMA and Monsanto are the largest opponents of GMO labeling laws. So far they have spent millions to suppress all GMO labeling efforts
Vermont’s Watershed GM (Genetically Modified) Food Labeling Law Target of a Lawsuit by Trade Groups
If you haven’t heard the news, on April 16th of this year Vermont passed ACT 120. This is the first state law that requires all GMOs to be labeled as of July 2016.
Both AG and legislators were right. However, not everyone was happy with this new labeling ACT 120 especially The Grocery Manufacturers Association (GMA); the Snack Food Association (SFA); International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA); the National Association of Manufacturers (NAM). Each of these claims that their GMO-loaded food is completely safe, so there is no need for any labeling.
The lawsuit against Vermont’s effort claims that GM labeling is actually an assault on the company’s right to free speech.
Starbucks is on the same side as Monsanto via the GMA against Vermont’s efforts. “So far, between 2012 and 2014, Monsanto and the GMA have successfully blocked GMO labeling legislation in over 30 states, at a price tag of more than $100 million! These funds were received from the 300+ members of the GMA, which include chemical/pesticide, GE seed, and processed food industries.”
SumOfUs, a consumer advocacy group, summed it up: “There’s much more at stake here than just whether GMO foods will be labeled in a single U.S. State. Vermont is the very first state in the U.S. to require labeling.
Dozens of other states have said that they will follow this path — in order to encourage this, we need to ensure that Vermont’s law stands strong.”
On their website, SumOfUs describes themselves as: “a movement of consumers, workers and shareholders speaking with one voice to counterbalance the growing power of large corporations.”
The members of this group have already contributed with a quarter of million dollars to the legal defense fund of Vermont. They also raised a petition to support Vermont.
How is Starbucks associated with Vermont and GM labeling?
Despite every denial, Starbucks is part of a court case against Vermont’s latest GMO labeling law and every GMO labeling law by proxy. They are all hiding in the shadow of GMA, a lobbying group that is still unknown to most Americans.
Actually, this works pretty well for Starbucks. They can raise a facade of GMO neutrality to their consumers, and simultaneously fight GMO labeling behind the curtains. This will surely enable the company to protect the bottom line and their thoroughly crafted PR image.
The Very Big Picture Conclusion
Bought: The Hidden Story Behind Vaccines, Big Pharma & Your Food [GMO’s]
As you all know, there is nothing new about the way corporations use the legal system to pressure people to make unwilling decisions. So we asked the following question: Should we stay calm while large corporations “legally” manipulate the will of people whenever they find it profitable?
Maybe the reigning in of companies is actually a moot point at this juncture. Some people would say that the so-called 1%, or the elite, is the actual owner of the “system.”
When it comes to Starbucks, giving a dollar for your vote is the best way to urge them to dump Monsanto “goodies.”
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