The fight against genetically-engineered foods has hit the streets.
The Organic Consumers Association held a nationwide protest Tuesday against Starbucks Coffee Co. to address the issue of Starbucks’ use of cow milk injected with the genetically engineered recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH).
In Eugene, the Sierra Club joined the effort by leafleting Starbucks Coffee at 13th Avenue and Alder Street. Standing by a largely empty outdoor seating area facing 13th Avenue, Debrah Higbee, the executive commissioner of the Sierra Club of Eugene, handed out leaflets to passers-by and customers headed into the Starbucks.
Although the FDA has approved the use of rBGH, many contend that the hormone’s long-term effects are not known and that it affects each individual differently, especially those with allergy problems.
“If this is a democracy, why don’t citizens have a response to the
concerns of the public?” Higbee asked. Despite the efforts of the Sierra Club of Eugene, not many local Starbucks customers seemed to care about the issue.
“Here, there has been zero interest in people asking us any questions,” Starbucks manager Steve Traffas said. “I really like the push made by the groups, but I thought we’d see more public interest.”
Traffas said that his store had a stapled package of information to
give to customers with any questions on the issue of genetically engineered products, but halfway through protest nobody had even asked about rBGH.
Starkly contrasting the effort in Eugene, Seattle protesters fared much better in their efforts. Ronnie Cummins, national director of the Organic Consumers Association, said that about 100 people gathered outside the annual shareholders meeting held at Starbucks’ headquarters in Seattle.
“The shareholders got the message loud and clear,” he said. “It’s
important for Starbucks to see that this is not a public relations problem, but more a policy problem.”
Cummins emphasized that this is a problem with no easy solutions.
“What they see as mainly a money issue,” he said, “we see as an ethics issue.”
The OCA’s complaints focus on issues of genetic engineering, fair trade coffee (shade-grown and organic), and the working conditions and wages of impoverished plantation workers.
Earlier this month, OCA directors sent a letter to Starbucks, the
nation’s leading coffee-drink retailer, demanding that Starbucks assess the unique situation that they face being the one of the largest commercial users of milk from rBGH-injected cows. In reply to the letter, Starbucks CEO Orin Smith issued a statement that simple economic principles have prevented Starbucks from using completely rBGH-free milk.
“Because Starbucks does not produce these goods and does not have control over their supply, we are not in a position to give immediate assurances that we can offer only genetically modified organism-free goods,” Smith said.
Traffas added that while Starbucks does sell coffee that is labeled as being “fair trade coffee,” those beans are not the ones used in the majority of their drinks.
Although Higbee said that the potential is minimal that the dairy
industry will make any immediate changes, there are things that consumers can do to clearly display their position on rBGH-tainted milk.
She said that customers can call businesses such as Dari-Mart and Safeway and ask them which type of milk they sell. Higbee pointed out, however, she is uncertain if the answers would be “straightforward.”
Higbee said that the manner in which stores receive milk shipments provide for ample labeling of the distinction between rBGH-tainted milk and rBGH-free milk, but when the milk goes to the shelf the labeling that is on the box is largely disregarded.
“This is Eugene,” Higbee said. “A lot of people are aware of this and they do want to do something about it.”