The coffee available at your corner store, coffee shop, or
local supermarket by and large is provided by large multinational cutthroat
corporations. These corporations,
together, effectively form a cartel, squeezing the payments made to coffee
growers down to the minimum possible while still keeping coffee in
production. They also minimize payments
to workers, minimize environmental protections, and maximize the prices
consumers pay for their morning cup of brew.
This profit production scheme forces coffee growers into the
position of slashing expenses way below the minimum necessary to operate in an
ethical, sustainable, and environmentally sound manner. Many coffee growers employ child labor and
pay slave wages. Workers are housed in
crowded shanties with no power, no running water, and without adequate
sanitation. Their clothing is old and
wretched and there are no provisions for health care, sick leave, disability,
or retirement. The situation can be
worse. There are large coffee
plantations, which produce your morning cup of brew, they utilize forced labor,
well armed supervisors, and razor wire enclosed and guarded sleeping
quarters.
Labor abuses often do not stop at the farms where coffee is
grown. Starbucks in particular, pays its part time
baristas low wages, and while it is open long hours, it does not offer
guaranteed schedules. In order to keep
their Starbucks jobs baristas are seldom able to work a second job or pursue
education or training. And Starbucks
makes a habit of doing everything it can to prevent unionization of its
workers. So far those efforts have been
successful. If all this wasn’t bad enough, Starbucks has
also used prison labor to package your beans.
All of this has been done to maximize profits. Those profits
have been used, in part, to subvert our democracy. Starbucks, again, has a huge lobbying
machine, which it has used to reduce its corporate tax burden, while at the
same time it is pushing to reduce the very same social safety nets that its own
workers depend on to survive. Starbucks, however, doesn’t stop there. The CEO, Howard Schultz, coerced his
baristas into supporting his ‘austerity’ campaign, and they were required to
smile while they were at it.
For those concerned about the environment here at home and
about factory farming and GMO’s, Starbucks is a member of the Grocery
Manufacturers Association (GMA), the lobbying group that has spent millions of
dollars to defeat GMO labeling laws. The
milk and cream, as well as the food served in Starbucks, by and large come from
chemical, corporate, factory farms using GMO seeds and feed.
And then there is the genocide and ethnic cleansing being
perpetrated on Gaza and the West Bank.
Genocide and ethnic cleansing based on a radical and violent
Zionism. Howard Shultz, CEO of
Starbucks, is an active Zionist. Starbucks has made him rich, his net worth is
estimated at 2.2 billion dollars, and his annual salary from Starbucks is $28.9
million. That’s a lot of nickels and dimes available
for Shultz to throw around at causes he believes in. Unfortunately, his private interests are no
more humanitarian than his business interests.
It is well documented that Howard Shultz, CEO of Starbucks, has
supported and championed the goals of Zionism in the apartheid state of
Israel. The following article, on ‘Why
We Must Boycott Starbucks,’ covers the information clearly: http://www.arabamericannews.com/news/news/id_1971
Just in case anyone wonders if the on-going boycotts against Starbucks have changed Howard Shultz’s tune, please check out the following pro-Israel site, where Starbucks is listed as the Number 1—pro-Israeli company, “The Chairman and CEO of STARBUCKS, Howard Schultz, is an active Zionist. In 1998 he was honored by the Jerusalem Fund of Aish HaTorah with 'The Israel 50th Anniversary Friend of Zion Tribute Award' for his services to the Zionist state in 'playing a key role in promoting close alliance between the United States and Israel.' At a time when other businesses were desperately pulling out of Israel, Starbucks decided to help Israel's floundering economy and invest in Israel. It has been revealed that Starbucks still continues to support Israel by sponsoring fund raisers for Israel.” From: http://www.jerusalemchai.org/contents/read.cfm?categoryID=115&cID=1134
Better coffee is available. If you are grabbing a cup on the go or just
looking for a coffee shop to hang out in, any coffee shop is better than
Starbucks. A locally owned coffee shop
is an awesome idea. If they serve
Certified Organic, Certified Fair Trade, and/or Certified Shade Grown
Coffee—that’s even better.
Next time you are shopping for coffee for your home or
office, look for USDA Certified Organic, Certified Fair Trade, and/or Certified
Shade Grown Coffee. It might take a
little homework, you might have to spend a little more money, but we create the
world we live in by our spending habits.
If you know of some great tasting and ethical coffee brands,
please give them a shout out in comments!
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Facebook Shareable Meme.
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Please note, the facebook meme starts right off with Zionism. If you need a subtle version for facebook let us know in comments.
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More information ~
~
Ecological Issues, Coffee Growing & Processing:
The Coffee Industry
Is Worse Than Ever For The Environment:
For more
information also see:
Starbucks,
Factory Farms & GMO Foods:
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Labor Issues:
Starbucks, Coffee, & Child Labor: http://ihscslnews.org/view_article.php?id=178
Starbucks and Slave Labor:
http://bradhoffmann.com/2013/03/27/starbucks-sexuality-and-slavery.html
Starbucks C.A.F.E fraud exposed: http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Global-Issues/2013/0721/Follow-your-labels-Starbucks-coffee-farmers-who-never-heard-of-Starbucks
Starbucks, Union
Busting, Barista Scheduling Issues:
See also:
Starbucks and Prison Labor:
http://www.beyondbars.org/starbucks_private_prison_labor
Starbucks Bullies Baristas: http://www.thenation.com/article/172547/starbucks-tycoon-bullies-baristas
Smile while you’re at it: http://www.msnbc.com/the-ed-show/how-companies-force-emotional-labor-low
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Starbucks and Lobbying:
Starbucks Puts Lobbying on Corporate Menu:
Starbucks
Wins Tax Loopholes:
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Howard
Shultz, CEO of Starbucks:
Net Worth:
Palestinian
Genocide Connection:
On-going
Zionist Israeli Support:
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Facebook Shareable Meme.
Please note, the facebook meme starts right off with Zionism. If you need a subtle version for facebook let us know in comments.
~~~
Facebook Shareable Meme.
Please note, the facebook meme starts right off with Zionism. If you need a subtle version for facebook let us know in comments.
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