Singer Neil Young has declared he's boycotting Starbucks over the coffee giant's litigation against the state of Vermont for passing legislation requiring the coffee chain and other companies to label genetically modified ingredients they use.
According to Rolling Stone magazine, Vermont requires companies to post GMO labeling by July 1, 2016, according to legislation it passed in the spring. The legislature carved out exceptions for dairy products, meat, alcohol and food served in restaurants.
Food organizations challenging the statue's constitutionality in court include the Grocery Manufacturers Association, whose 300-plus members include both Starbucks and Monsanto and produce 90 percent of the world's transgenic crops,
reported Popular Science. Other plaintiffs include the Snack Food Association, the International Dairy Food Association and the National Association of Manufacturers, stated the magazine.
Young was a regular Starbucks customer until the suit.
"I used to line up and get my latte every day, but yesterday was my last one,"
Young wrote on his blog. "Starbucks has teamed up with Monsanto to sue Vermont, and stop accurate food labeling. Tell Starbucks to withdraw support for the lawsuit – we have a right to know what we put in our mouths. Starbucks doesn't think you have the right to know what's in your coffee. So it's teamed up with Monsanto to sue the small U.S. state of Vermont to stop you from finding out."
Young called the lawsuit the tale of "David and Goliath" with Vermont taking on what he calls corporate giants Starbucks and Monsanto.
"Monsanto might not care what we think – but as a public-facing company, Starbucks does," Young said on his blog. "If we can generate enough attention, we can push Starbucks to withdraw its support for the lawsuit, and then pressure other companies to do the same.
"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," Young said.
Vermont Attorney General Bill Sorrell asked a federal judge in August to throw out the case filed by the food organizations, saying that the state has the right to require that genetically modified foods sold within the state be labeled,
according to the Burlington Free Press.
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