Dear Food Activists,

On the eve of nationwide March 20 protests against Starbucks in over 100 cities in the US and Canada, the Organic Consumers Association would like to respond to the recent public statements by the CEO of Starbucks, Orin Smith.

We are disappointed that Starbucks has been evasive and equivocal in their statements, rather than addressing the demands of our campaign.

Specifically:

Starbucks claims we have said we are unwilling to meet with them. This is not true. We are willing to meet with them as soon as they tell us in writing that they are willing to change their corporate policies so as to:

(1) Remove recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) and all other genetically engineered ingredients (soy, soy lecithin, corn sweeteners, and cooking oil) from all of their products (milk and coffee beverages, ice cream, chocolate, and baked goods). Starbucks saying they will eventually give consumers a "choice" over rBGH-laced or rBGH-free milk is completely unacceptable. Starbucks buys 32 million gallons of milk every year in the USA. Our demand is that all 32 million gallons be organic or rBGH-free. There are several hundred dairies across the US selling certified rBGH-free milk, as well as a national supply of organic, rBGH-free milk and dairy products. The same thing goes for chocolate, baked goods, cooking oils and food ingredients--there are an ample supply of non-GE products available.

(2) Start brewing Fair Trade (shade-grown and organic) coffee and serving it as the coffee flavor of the day in their 3500 cafes worldwide. Starbucks saying they will explore whether or not there is an adequate supply of Fair Trade coffee in the world to enable them to do this is completely unacceptable. Starbucks knows as well as we do that there is an ample supply of Fair Trade and organic coffee in the world waiting for a buyer right now. As the human rights group Global Exchange has pointed out, one-half of the world's supply of certified Fair Trade coffee is now having to be sold on the commercial market at a loss--simply because coffee buyers like Starbucks aren't buying enough of it. Coffee shops across America are brewing Fair Trade and organic coffee and serving it up as the flavor of the day. Starbucks can certainly do the same. Many of these coffee shops are using milk and dairy products which are either organic or labeled as rBGH-free and serving organic baked goods.

(3) Starbucks has said they aren't using genetically engineered coffee beans now. We simply want them to put in writing that they will never use them.

(4) Starbucks says they give lots of money to charities and that they are socially responsible. Again they are avoiding the real issue. We are asking them to put in writing that they will raise the wages and improve the working conditions of the impoverished coffee workers who toil on the plantations of their suppliers. A study carried out by the US Guatemala Labor Education Project (USGLEP) in Guatemala in 1997 found that entire families of coffee workers on the plantations supplying Starbucks and other companies were typically making a grand total of $1.25 per day, while a Guatemalan family needs at least $10 a day to survive. USGLEP estimated in 1997 that for Starbucks to guarantee subsistence level wages for plantation workers it would cost the company a mere penny a cup more for their coffee.

We are happy that Starbucks seems to be taking our campaign seriously and that at least on the level of rhetoric, they are moving in the right direction. Now we await a clear and unequivocal response to our demands. Are they or are they not willing to get rid of GE ingredients, brew up Fair Trade coffee everyday, and put into practice a code of conduct which will improve the wages and working conditions of coffee plantation workers?

In the meantime the Frankenbucks campaign will go forward.

Ronnie Cummins, National Director, Organic Consumers Association