January 2, 2008
There is no doubt that Starbucks Coffee is in.
Nearly everyone has had a coffee (or something that vaguely resembles coffee) from Starbucks at one time or another, and some are regular Starbucks consumers.
However, there is a darker side to Starbucks of which many people are unaware.
Most of the coffee that Starbucks serves is not Fair Trade Certified. This means Starbucks is not buying coffee at fair prices and is further impoverishing and ruining the livelihoods of coffee farmers in Central and South America. In fact, according to the Organic Consumers Association, only 3 percent of the coffee Starbucks sells and brews is Fair Trade Certified.
Although coffee should be the most profitable crop for farmers in Central and South America considering world demand, coffee farmers earn an average of $300 a year, which is far from enough to maintain their lands and continue planting coffee. According to the Global Exchange, current global coffee prices and working conditions have turned coffee farms into "sweatshops in the fields."
The U.S. consumes one-fifth of the world’s coffee, making it coffee’s largest consumer. Americans have a social responsibility to make sure that what they are consuming has been grown and sold under ecologically and ethically sound conditions.
In addition, Starbucks uses milk that contains recombinant bovine growth hormone, which has already been banned in Europe and Canada. rBGH has many harmful effects on dairy cows, including drastically shortened life spans, mutations and damaged reproductive ability.
Milk from rBGH-injected cows contains high levels of pus, bacteria and antibiotics, as well as alarming levels of the potent cancer tumor promoter IGF-1.
While the effects such milk on humans has not been extensively studied due to corporate hush-ups and corporate interests within the Food and Drug Administration, milk containing one known potent carcinogen and other contaminants can hardly do one’s body good.
Although boycotting and vociferous demands for change are always the way to go, there are other courses of action for those too lazy or cowardly to demand that the quality of what they’re ordering matches the price they’re paying.
Starbucks is slowly adding some Fair Trade Certified and organic options to its menu, so it is possible to enjoy Starbucks without exploiting coffee farmers and denying them fair wages. To avoid ingesting genetically altered and carcinogenic milk, order items that do not contain milk or ask for organic or dairy-free substitutes.
Demanding Fair Trade Certified coffee and milk that has not been genetically altered not only protects one’s own health, but also protects the health of the coffee and dairy industries.
For more information on Fair Trade Certified coffee, rBGH, and Starbucks’ involvement, visit transfairusa.org, foodsafetynow.org or globalexchange.org.
