Can you imagine wanting to do the right thing—like refusing to support a cruel industry in which cows are raped and impregnated and their babies are taken away—but then a multibillion-dollar company says that it’s going to make you pay more for making that choice? Well, that’s exactly what Starbucks is doing when it charges customers extra to get nondairy milk in their drinks. Plus, it punishes those who are lactose intolerant and those who want to choose vegan milk to help the environment.
The good news is that many other coffee shops are already doing the compassionate thing by offering vegan milk at no additional charge. Starbucks just needs a little wake-up call—and that’s where you come in!
It’s time for Starbucks to brew change, and we need you to do the following:
1. Post a comment on Starbucks’ Instagram page asking it to stop charging customers extra for vegan milk.
2. Tweet @Starbucks and ask it to warm its cold brew heart and drop the additional fee that it currently charges for nondairy options—because it punishes those who want to do the right thing.
3. Contact us to request free posters, leaflets, and stickers, and then “occupy Starbucks” by spending a few hours working or hanging out with friends in your local store—making sure that everyone gets the message. Note: Starbucks has a policy not to throw anyone out, even if you don’t order anything.
4. Speak with a Starbucks live-chat representative. Ask if the company will drop the vegan milk upcharge because it isn’t fair to people who are lactose intolerant and those who want to help animals and the environment.
5. Text STARBUCKS to 73822 to take action!
Terms for automated texts/calls from PETA: http://peta.vg/txt. Text STOP to end, HELP for more info. Msg/data rates may apply. U.S. only.
6. Call the company at 1-800-782-7282 and tell it that customers shouldn’t be charged extra for wanting to help cows and the environment.
Here are some talking points you can use in your call:
- Cows in the dairy industry are forcibly inseminated, and their calves are taken away within 24 hours of birth. Mother cows sometimes wail for their babies for days. Male calves are killed for veal, and females go through the same cycle of forced impregnation and loss of their calves that their mothers endured. After four or five years of this abuse, they’re sent to a slaughterhouse, where they’re subjected to a violent, painful death.
- Despite its lip service to sustainability, Starbucks continues to put profits over the planet. The chain shouldn’t be penalizing people for choosing a healthier option that doesn’t support animal abuse and is far less destructive to the environment.
- The production of cow’s milk generates around three times more greenhouse gas emissions and uses nine times more land than that of vegan milks. It takes 628 liters of water to produce 1 liter of cow’s milk, while producing oat or soy milk requires 90% less water. The planet doesn’t have time for half-measures from Starbucks when there are so many sustainable vegan milks to use instead.
- Cow’s milk has been linked to many chronic conditions, including allergies, asthma, and acne, as well as major health epidemics that affect millions of Americans, including heart disease, obesity, cancer, and diabetes. There’s nothing healthy about drinking the baby food of a different species.
- Starbucks’ upcharge perpetuates dietary racism. Millions of Americans are lactose intolerant, and many are people of color, including 75% of African Americans and American Indians and 90% of Asian Americans.
- Many other chains offer dairy-free milk at no extra charge, including Stumptown Coffee Roasters, Noah’s New York Bagels, Philz Coffee, and Whole Foods. Recently, Starbucks eliminated the upcharge in the U.K. and Germany and at the majority of its locations in France. In the U.S., Starbucks needs to do right by cows, the planet, and its customers by ending the vegan surcharge immediately.
After you make your call, please let us know how it went. By submitting this form to PETA, you are not taking action or contacting the company. This is a feedback form to help us improve the call-in experience.
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And be sure to share this page with others. There’s power in numbers, and when enough customers show Starbucks that it can do better for animals, consumers’ health, and the environment, the company will make a change.
