Why I think Starbucks is evil (& you should too).

My last post inspired me to explain why it is I haven't had a cup of Starbucks coffee in the past three months.

I saw this film in my documentary filmmaking class called "Black Gold" (for the movie's website, click here). The basic synopsis of the film is to give the audience a look into the production of coffee and its import from Africa.

here's the trailer:

Black Gold:


In the United States, it is no secret that a vast majority of our goods are imported from overseas where often raw materials and labor are significantly cheaper. While we know sweatshops and impoverished countries exist, it is easy to not fully understand the exploitation that happens to produce that $4 grande caramel macchiato.

One of the most powerful scenes in the film for me showed a mother in Ethiopia bringing her child to one of the medical stations in her village. Doctors had set up a tent in the village to help the impoverished families get the medical care they needed for their children. The doctors weighed the fragile, bony, frightened dying toddler and gave her mother their decision. Her child was dying, but not dying "enough" and because of lack of resources was denied medical care.

Her mother spent hours a day sorting coffee beans, making about $2 a week in salary. The coffee she helped produce was then purchased by the kilo from companies such as Starbucks, where they turn a profit in the United States for nearly 10 times what they purchase it for.

From that day on, I haven't had a single cup of Starbucks coffee.

I'm well aware that Starbucks isn't the only company that lends a hand in the exploitation of overseas workers, and to fully boycott everything would be next to impossible.

It is only my one, tiny little way of making a difference.

Besides, Starbucks coffee sucks.