Well, ladies and gentlemen, I regret to inform you that Starbucks should officially be off the menu for anyone interested in honest business. For those of you who may not know, Starbucks has joined with Monsanto in the suit against Vermont to hide genetically modified organisms (GMOs) in their ingredients labels.
Monsanto is the company that designs GMOs, which change the structures of our food to increase its growth. For example, with GMOs, we have a decreased need for pesticides and even increase food production in third world countries – preventing famines and saving lives through these genetic changes, which sounds good on paper but is quite controversial in reality. What we are forgetting is that GMOs are terrible for the body – the human body as well as our animal counterparts. These GMOs increase toxins and allergens, changing chemical make ups of plants. Simply put, we don’t know what the long term effects of these changes will do to the body. Please tell me that scares at least some of you.
We simply don’t know what they long term effects are and it’s in 60-70% of our food on the shelves, which includes the store’s Starbucks products and onsite Starbucks location. Food companies aren’t legally required to label if they are using GMOs in their products. Seeing as Starbucks is a popular coffee spot for most college students, drinking something potentially hiding ingredients that could be harmful to our health is more than slightly nerve wracking. Making a grande pumpkin spice latte a habitual activity is simply not worth the risks that could come from it. With all of the nutritional deficiencies and carcinogens that arise from GMOs, supporting Starbucks in this choice to sue Vermont is detrimental to our constitutional rights and our health. We simply can’t allow big business to run us over like that. Starbucks frames itself up to be a safe place with all of their tea collections and low fat options, but stuffing us full of unknown ingredients with hazardous effects outweighs the good in these options.
This lawsuit is inherently about the ability to keep GMOs in your food under wraps. The fact that this suit is in the federal court is concerning due to such a wide reaching verdict.  Vermont was the first state in the country to require GMOs to be labeled, and at least 25 other states are looking at similar regulations. Monsanto is claiming that by forcing them to label GMOs would go directly against their freedom of speech – and Starbucks is joining this fight. Anyone else see how ridiculous this is? What is in my food is my business and this information should be readily disclosed at any time. I have the right to know, and so do you.
The obvious solution is to back away from these brands and to get a solid knowledge on what GMOs are. Remember – these companies don’t have to list that they have GMOs in their products, so this will have to be some thorough research. There are many helpful lists to give us all a head start on making GMO-free choices. Start with Starbucks and transition into a strictly organic coffee shop, or one that boasts that it is non-GMO. There are plenty of mom-and-pop cafes that would love your business. It is such an easy switch to make, but you’re eliminating the potential consequences of GMOs on your body. We need to stop allowing big businesses to ruin our health, but these companies run off of our own ignorance.
Featured image via Dom J on Pexels
