West Palm Beach Teen to ‘Roast’ Starbucks Over Vegan Milk Upcharge
Local Youth Will Lead PETA Protest Against Penalty for Those Choosing Eco- and Animal-Friendly Options
For Immediate Release:
January 24, 2020
Contact:
Nicole Meyer 202-483-7382
Armed with giant PETA posters proclaiming, “Soy Milk Surcharge Sux,” 19-year-old Jenna Hirth will lead a group of protesters in occupying a local Starbucks on Saturday.
When: Saturday, January 25, 5:45–6:45 p.m.
Where: Starbucks, 226 Clematis St., West Palm Beach
The protest—which is part of PETA’s Week of Action, during which teens and other activists will occupy Starbucks locations across the U.S. and Canada—comes in the wake of the chain’s release of its new “sustainability commitments.” Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson recently stated, “Alternative milks will be a big part of the solution,” and said that he’ll push consumers to choose milk made from almonds, coconuts, soy, or oats, whose production is friendlier to the environment than dairy. The protest also comes as Starbucks fails to address its continued practice of charging extra for vegan milk, even as an environmental assessment unveiled on Tuesday revealed that dairy-based items are the company’s “biggest source of carbon dioxide emissions.”
“Continuing to charge more for vegan milk while admitting that it’s the key to reducing Starbucks’ massive carbon footprint is irresponsible and unethical,” says PETA Director of Student Campaigns and Influence Rachelle Owen. “Young people are leading the charge in demanding that the company wake up and smell the coffee: It’s time for the unfair surcharge to end.”
In today’s dairy industry, cows are forcibly impregnated (raped via an inserted syringe) and calves are torn away from their loving mothers within a day of birth. According to the United Nations, animal agriculture is responsible for nearly a fifth of human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions and a global shift to vegan eating is vital if we are to combat the worst effects of climate change.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
