Organic Consumer Activists Will Leaflet & Protest at Starbucks Coffee Shops in 300 Cities February 23 - March 2. Protests Will Coincide with Starbucks' Annual Shareholders Meeting in Seattle on February 26.

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Organic Consumer Activists Will Leaflet & Protest at Starbucks Coffee Shops in 300 Cities February 23 - March 2. Protests Will Coincide with Starbucks' Annual Shareholders Meeting in Seattle on February 26.

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Organic Consumer Activists Will Leaflet & Protest at Starbucks Coffee Shops in 300 Cities February 23 - March 2. Protests Will Coincide with Starbucks' Annual Shareholders Meeting in Seattle on February 26.

Consumers Demand Starbucks Remove Recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH) and

Other Genetically Engineered (GE) Ingredients from their Brand Name Products,

Brew Fair Trade Coffee as "Coffee of the Day" at least One Day a Week, and

Guarantee a Living Wage to Coffee Producers.

Protests are Part of an Ongoing Global Campaign Against GE and Agricultural

WASHINGTON, SEATTLE, Feb. 13 -/E-Wire/-- Consumer, environmental, and social justice activists in 300 US cities and seven other nations (England, Scotland, Israel, Austria, Canada, Australia, & Japan) will leaflet and stage protests in front of Starbucks coffee shops Feb. 23-March 2. These protests are timed to coincide with Starbucks' annual meeting in Seattle on February 26. Protestors, including shareholders in Seattle, will call attention to Starbucks' use of GE ingredients in their foods and beverages, as well as Starbucks' refusal to brew Fair Trade, shade-grown coffee as its "coffee of the day" at least one day a week.

Events are scheduled for Seattle, Portland, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Minneapolis, New York, Buffalo, Philadelphia, Washington DC, Albuquerque, Dallas, Houston, San Diego, Vancouver, London (UK), and scores of other cities as part of an ongoing international campaign against Starbucks which began last year. Starbucks, the largest coffee shop chain in the world, has recently begun to give in to at least some of the demands of this global campaign, but remains under pressure from activists and some of its shareholders, for full implementation of the campaign's demands. Orin Smith, Starbucks CEO, admitted last year that Fair Trade, shade-grown coffee represents only one tenth of one percent of Starbucks' total sales, and that most of its beverages and foods contain GE ingredients.

"Starbucks must do more than just greenwash themselves. Unless they remove rBGH and all GE ingredients from their product lines, brew Fair Trade and organic coffee as their "coffee of the day" at least one day a week, and guarantee a living wage to coffee farmers, they run the risk of further damage to their reputation and their bottom line," stated Ronnie Cummins, National Director of the OCA.

The OCA is a nationwide network of 250,000 organic consumers, which works with public interest groups worldwide to oppose GE and industrial agriculture and to promote organic farming. The OCA's national office is located at 6101 Cliff Estate Road, Little Marais, MN 55614

Organic Consumers Association

Organic Consumers Association,

[REDACTED-EMAIL]

http://www.organicconsumers.org

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