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A project of Common Dreams

For Immediate Release
Contact:

Katherine Paul
207.653.3090

Organic Consumers Association Calls on Starbucks to Convert to Certified Organic Milk

FINLAND, Minn.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) has joined GMO Inside in a campaign calling on Starbucks to convert its milk purchases to certified organic milk.

"Starbucks is perpetuating the unsustainable model of industrial and GMO agriculture," said Ronnie Cummins, OCA's national director. "Approximately 75 percent of all GMO crops are used to feed livestock, including dairy cows. By switching to organic milk, Starbucks could set the industry standard while at the same time contributing to the growth of a more sustainable, and more humane, dairy industry model."

Starbucks is the largest coffee chain in the world, with 20,100 stores, and annual sales of $14.9 billion. CEO Howard Schultz is worth $1.6 billion.

Starbucks uses more than 93 million gallons (2011 figures) annually of non-organic milk from factory farms. Where animal abuse and unhealthy practices run rampant.

The OCA has been pressuring Starbucks for 12 years to change its policies and practices around organics and fair trade. Yet apart from one victory--in 2007, when in response to consumer pressure Starbucks agreed to stop using milk containing Monsanto's Bovine Growth Hormone--the company has largely ignored consumer demand for organic,

That's an unhealthy diet for animals. And an unsustainable model for agriculture.

The Organic Consumers Association (OCA) is an online and grassroots 501(c)3 nonprofit public interest organization, and the only organization in the U.S. focused exclusively on promoting the views and interests of the nation's estimated 50 million consumers of organically and socially responsibly produced food and other products. OCA educates and advocates on behalf of organic consumers, engages consumers in marketplace pressure campaigns, and works to advance sound food and farming policy through grassroots lobbying. We address crucial issues around food safety, industrial agriculture, genetic engineering, children's health, corporate accountability, Fair Trade, environmental sustainability, including pesticide use, and other food- and agriculture-related topics.