STARBUCKS GLOBAL DAYS OF ACTION
June 25-29, 2001

HELP PRESSURE STARBUCKS TO REMOVE GENETICALLY ENGINEERED INGREDIENTS FROM THEIR FOOD AND DAIRY PRODUCTS ON A WORLDWIDE BASIS, IMPROVE WORKING CONDITIONS FOR COFFEE PLANTATION WORKERS, AND BREW AND SERIOUSLY PROMOTE FAIR TRADE COFFEE IN ALL OF THEIR CAFES.

On March 20th, 2001, thousands of activists took part in protests and leafleting events outside Starbucks cafes in over 100 cities across the US and Canada. This unprecedented day of action was the start of the largest consumer campaign ever mounted against a major US food and beverage company around the issues of genetic engineering and Fair Trade.  The campaign is now expanding into Europe and Asia as we call on Starbucks, which owns over 3,500 cafes to:

· Start brewing and promoting Fair Trade coffee in ALL OF THEIR CAFES WORLDWIDE and provide clear evidence that they are in compliance with their previous promise to improve the wages, working conditions, and lives of the people who grow, harvest, and process the coffee they buy in Guatemala and other nations.

· Remove Monsanto's controversial and likely dangerous rBGH (recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone) from their brand name products and all products sold in their cafes, on a global basis and place rBGH-free Labels on their ice cream and bottled drinks. Starbucks uses 32 million gallons of milk a year in the US. We want all 32 million gallons to be organic or at least certified rBGH-free, as soon as possible.

· To provide written assurance that they will stop using genetically engineered ingredients in their baked goods, chocolate, and in the soymilk they are using to make coffee drinks. GE soy, lecithin and other soy derivatives, GE corn sweeteners, and GE cooking oils can all be currently found inside the doors of your local Starbucks. STARBUCKS CLAIMS TO BE GE FREE IN EUROPE. They can certainly guarantee the same thing in North America and the rest of the world.

· To pledge that they will never use genetically engineered coffee beans (the biotech industry is currently field-testing decaffeinated and 'uniformly ripening' genetically engineered coffee beans).

CONSUMERS IN ALL OF STARBUCKS CAFES SHOULD BE ABLE TO DRINK FAIR TRADE COFFEE AND PURCHASE FOOD AND DRINK WHICH IS FREE OF GENETICALLY ENGINEERED INGREDIENTS.

TAKE ACTION ON June 25-29, 2001 AND BE PART OF STARBUCKS GLOBAL DAYS OF ACTION WHICH WILL COINCIDE WITH THE BIOTECH INDUSTRY'S ANNUAL CONVENTION IN SAN DIEGO, USA.

Help us leaflet Starbucks in your community.

Send an email to simon@organicconsumers.org if you would like to be part of this global event.

Click here to find out how you can get more involved!