Trouble Brewing for Starbucks?

For Immediate Release
March 20, 2001

(Ottawa) Today the Sierra Club of Canada joined goups across North
America in calling on Starbucks to stop using all genetically
engineered ingredients in the baked goods and chocolates they sell,
and to pledge to brew and sell Fair Trade organic coffee and cocoa.

Consumer, environmental, and social justice activists will stage over
100 events across North America in front of Starbucks coffee shops.
Starbucks is the largest gourmet coffee shop chain in the world, and
today's protests conincide with Starbucks annual shareholders' meeting
in Seattle, Washington.

"There is a huge and growing public demand for Fair Trade organic
coffee and Starbucks is in a great position to take the lead in
offering and promoting it," said Lucy Sharratt, Coordinator of the
Sierra Club of Canada's Safe Food, Sustainable Agriculture Campaign.
"Starbucks has promised to improve the wages and working conditions of
coffee plantation workers, and this i sthe only way they can keep
their promise."

"It is important that consumers of luxury goods like coffee and cocoa
are not enjoying them at the expense of workers and the environment in
producing countries. Fair wages, good working conditions, and
protection from pesticides must be considered by the big corporations
that control the coffee and cocoa markets when making their purchasing
decisions," said Angela Rickman, Sierra Club of Canada's deputy
director. "If consumer pressure to make the right choice is what
"Starbucks' shareholders need, then consumer pressure is what they
will get."

In addition, the Sierra Club of Canada is calling on Starbucks to
remove any products containing milk produced with Monsanto's
recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) from all of its stores. In
the US, Starbucks uses milk produced with rBGH, which is injected into
10% of US dairy cows to force them to give more milk. Health Canada
refused to approve rBGH for use in Canada because of massive public
opposition and unresolved human and animal safety concerns.

"This will be the largest consumer campaign ever mounted against a
major US food and beverage company around the issues of genetic
engineering and Fair Trade," state Ronnie Cummins, National Director
of the Organic Consumers Association. "This campaign against
Starbucks will continue until they meet all of our demands. If
necessary we will extend this campaign internationally to Europe and
Asia," concluded Cummins.