News
Picky Guide
Some call Starbucks a channel for industrial revolution; others say it is the epitome of corporate imperialism. Others blame it for America's obesity crisis. But for most of the 34 million people who visit their cafés every week, Starbucks simply serves good, convenient, and by most standards, overpriced coffee.
But there is more to Starbucks than the drinks with the fancy names - it sells, as its posters claim, the Starbucks Experience. It sells a modern, youthful ambiance that makes the average coffee drinker feel cool, funky, and perhaps even intellectual. It is this feeling Read more
But there is more to Starbucks than the drinks with the fancy names - it sells, as its posters claim, the Starbucks Experience. It sells a modern, youthful ambiance that makes the average coffee drinker feel cool, funky, and perhaps even intellectual. It is this feeling Read more
News
August 1, 2007
Daniel Gross looks a lot like your average Starbucks (SBUX) barista. The 28-year-old is slim and clean-shaven, dressed in tan cargo pants and a T-shirt.
But Gross would rather talk about worker solidarity than lattes and soy milk these days. A volunteer organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Gross claims his involvement with the union got him fired from a New York City Starbucks a year ago. Now he's preparing to go before a judge on Aug. 6 to make the case for himself and other baristas he says have been fired or intimidated for union activity. Seated in the Read more
But Gross would rather talk about worker solidarity than lattes and soy milk these days. A volunteer organizer for the Industrial Workers of the World (IWW), Gross claims his involvement with the union got him fired from a New York City Starbucks a year ago. Now he's preparing to go before a judge on Aug. 6 to make the case for himself and other baristas he says have been fired or intimidated for union activity. Seated in the Read more
News
June 20, 2007
Dear Friends,
It has been nearly eight months since Oxfam began its efforts to raise awareness of the efforts by Ethiopians to gain control over the names of their finest coffees. Since then, many organizations have joined the campaign calling on Starbucks and other roasters to honor their commitments to coffee farmers by signing an agreement recognizing Ethiopia's ownership of its coffee names. I am writing to let you know that today Starbucks and Ethiopia signed an agreement which recognizes the rights of Ethiopians to control the use of their coffee names. Though much work Read more
It has been nearly eight months since Oxfam began its efforts to raise awareness of the efforts by Ethiopians to gain control over the names of their finest coffees. Since then, many organizations have joined the campaign calling on Starbucks and other roasters to honor their commitments to coffee farmers by signing an agreement recognizing Ethiopia's ownership of its coffee names. I am writing to let you know that today Starbucks and Ethiopia signed an agreement which recognizes the rights of Ethiopians to control the use of their coffee names. Though much work Read more
News
May 29, 2007
Facts:
1. We're winning the war against rBGH (rBST) use. Dairy processors, retailers and farmers all over the country are swearing off the use of this genetically engineered hormone in response to increased awareness of consumers and their demand for rBGH-free products, both conventional and organic.
2. Facing losses of millions of dollars, Monsanto is going back to the FDA and FTC to persuade them to curtail rBGH-free labeling.
3. We're going to do everything possible to preserve the rights of businesses to inform consumers and the rights of consumers Read more
1. We're winning the war against rBGH (rBST) use. Dairy processors, retailers and farmers all over the country are swearing off the use of this genetically engineered hormone in response to increased awareness of consumers and their demand for rBGH-free products, both conventional and organic.
2. Facing losses of millions of dollars, Monsanto is going back to the FDA and FTC to persuade them to curtail rBGH-free labeling.
3. We're going to do everything possible to preserve the rights of businesses to inform consumers and the rights of consumers Read more
News
May 21, 2007
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Paul Rice heads an organization that gives many of the poorest people in Third World countries hope for a better life.
Rice's TransFair USA, a nonprofit based in Oakland with 53 employees, certifies fair trade products -- that is, products grown by Third World country farmers who are paid living wages, work under safe conditions and are allowed to organize into cooperatives.
Importers who purchase from Read more
Paul Rice heads an organization that gives many of the poorest people in Third World countries hope for a better life.
Rice's TransFair USA, a nonprofit based in Oakland with 53 employees, certifies fair trade products -- that is, products grown by Third World country farmers who are paid living wages, work under safe conditions and are allowed to organize into cooperatives.
Importers who purchase from Read more
News
April 3, 2007
Last month, the U.S. Department of Agriculture quietly released a ruling that alarmed organic certifiers and groups who work with third-world farmers. The decision tightens organic certification requirements to such a degree that it could sharply curtail the ability of small grower co-ops to produce organic coffee -- not to mention organic bananas, cocoa, sugar and even spices. Kimberly Easson, director of strategic relationships for TransFair USA, the fair trade certification group, puts it bluntly: "This ruling could wipe out the organic
Read more News
April 8, 2007
ON March 30, the National Labor Relations Board's
New York office delivered a stinging accusation against one of the
city's and the nation's most popular retail outlets. The labor
board charged that Starbucks,
the ubiquitous Read more
News
April 5, 2007
When Dan Randall first started coffee roasting 15 years ago, it was with one intention - to create the kind of gourmet, organic coffee he loved. His girlfriend at the time was unimpressed. "She didn't like my stuff," Randall said recently. "Her idea of a good cup of coffee was Farmer Brothers. If it didn't taste like a brown paper bag brewed through a gym sock, she didn't like it."
In 1992, it would likely have been Randall's girlfriend, not Randall, whose preferences reflected most American coffee drinkers. Coffee was then considered first and foremost a stimulant - if it Read more
In 1992, it would likely have been Randall's girlfriend, not Randall, whose preferences reflected most American coffee drinkers. Coffee was then considered first and foremost a stimulant - if it Read more
News
April 1, 2007
Its Saturday morning, and Nicole Evans arrives at Kirklands Puget Consumers Co-op Natural Market in flip-flops, fresh from a yoga class. She orders a cup of Cafe Carmelita because she loves the taste and likes its provenance. Cafe Carmelita is "triplecertified" as fair-trade, shade-grown, and organic-meaning that its supposed to be produced under conditions that are healthy for workers, water, land, and the songbirds and other creatures that need a shady forest habitat. "I'd rather support shops offering fair-trade coffee," says Evans, "so people get paid properly for their labor-instead of Read more
News
March 21, 2007
International aid agency Oxfam said Wednesday that Starbucks Coffee Company continues to ignore calls from Ethiopian coffee farmers and exporters to sign a royalty-free licensing agreement that would allow farmers to control its most famous coffee trademarks.
Oxfam said the Seattle-based company "has balked at signing a voluntary licensing agreement and has refused to engage in good-faith discussions with Ethiopia about the trademarking initiative."
Ethiopia's fine coffee names trademark initiative to trademark its famous coffee names such as Sidamo, Harar and , Read more
Oxfam said the Seattle-based company "has balked at signing a voluntary licensing agreement and has refused to engage in good-faith discussions with Ethiopia about the trademarking initiative."
Ethiopia's fine coffee names trademark initiative to trademark its famous coffee names such as Sidamo, Harar and , Read more
for Protest Starbucks