Singer-songwriter Neil Young confessed on his website Nov. 9 that he will no longer drink Starbucks after it has sided with agrochemical and agricultural biotechnology corporation Monsanto to sue the state of Vermont.
In the post, Young writes that with Starbucks siding with the company, this shows that Starbucks "doesn't think you have the right to know what's in your coffee."
This move stems from a current court case against Monsanto and the state of Vermont, where a new law was passed that requires labels on food products list what has been made with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), as shown in an article by news agency Reuters.
"Amazingly, it claims that the law is an assault on corporations' right to free speech," Young wrote in the post.
Young said that if there is enough attention generated on public-facing company Starbucks for supporting Monsanto, other companies may feel pressured to not join Monsanto's side.
"Vermont is a small, entirely rural state with just 600,000 people," Young said "It's a classic David and Goliath fight between Vermont and Monsanto."
In response to this, the state of Vermont has created a "food fight fund" due to it being the first state to pass laws on GMO labeling, according to Reuters.
"Dozens of other states have said that they will follow this path," Young wrote in the post. "[I]n order to encourage this, we need to ensure that Vermont's law stands strong."
Toward the end of the post, Young stated that corporations much like Monsanto and Starbucks should not be using the courts to dismiss “legitimate, democratic decisions with strong public backing."
"Considering that Starbucks has been progressive on LGBT and labor issues in the past, it's disappointing that it is working with the biggest villain of them all, Monsanto," he said.
Image courtesy of Tina Kaawaloa/INFphoto.com
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