Ask Starbucks to Hold the Hormones on December 5th

Nowadays, many dairy farms inject cows with rBGH (recombinant bovine growth hormone), a genetically-engineered, artificial hormone used to make cows produce more milk. In the United States, rBGH is given to about 22% of cows. It is banned in Canada, Japan, Australia, and the European Union.

On December 5th, Food & Water Watch is asking people to call Starbucks at 1 (800) 235-2883 between 5 AM-6 PM (PST) and request that they guarantee that all of the milk, chocolate, ice cream, bottled Frappuccino drinks, and baked goods that they serve are free of rBGH, also known as rBST. If you are more of an emailer, Democracy in Action has a form email that you can edit, or send as is.

Why should we care? Well, according to Food & Water Watch, rBGH increases the risk of infections in cows. When cows have infections, they are treated with antibiotics, which we drink, and those antibiotics can contribute to our being resistant to antibiotics in the future. Also, rBGH increases a hormone called IGF-1 in cows that is linked to an increase in colon, breast and prostrate cancer when humans have too much of it. Finally, Stabucks is such a huge company, if it only bought organic milk, that could have a huge impact on the organic dairy industry.

If you know your Starbucks Manager, Sustainable Table, has a postcard you can download and give to him or her that looks like this:

They also have an interactive map that shows you where you can buy dairy products without artificial bovine growth hormones and an rBGH-free dairy list you can take with you on your iPod when you go shopping.

Finally, if you are a blogger who wants to spread the word, they've asked that you tag your post with the tag: holdthehormones, and they have web banners that you can add to your post available here.

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