The aim of Knowmore.org is to raise awareness of corporate abuse, and to serve as a catalyst for direct action against corporate power.

Ethical Consumerism is an important movement toward corporate reform, through which individuals recognize their own role in systems of oppression, and take personal steps toward resistance and  positive change.

However, the problem of unchecked corporate power is systemic and goes far beyond the scope of any single boycot or campaign.

Once you've seen enough of Knowmore's data and familiarized yourself with our Issues section, check out our Direct Action page to get involved!

$1,700/$10,000

Help us make Knowmore.org's goals for 2009 a reality!

About Our Fundraiser & Honor Roll

From Knowmore.org

1. 
2. 
3. 
4. 
5. 
6. 

[edit] Criticisms

• The Starbucks Baristas Union and Global Exchange are pressuring Starbucks to increase the amount of "fair-trade-certified" coffee it purchases from 1 percent to 5 percent. The Starbucks Baristas Union was formed in May of 2004 to protest working conditions, which include low wages and difficulty getting health benefits from the company. "We see our struggles for humane wages and working conditions as united," said Daniel Gross, a union spokesperson. "No longer will Starbucks be allowed to run roughshod over its baristas or coffee farmers." Source: Inter Press Service, July 7, 2004

• The Green Life named Starbucks as One of the Ten Worst Greenwashers of 2003 for "for failing to adhere to its Environmental Mission Statement by slipping from industry leader to laggard on Fair Trade, and for adopting a patchwork approach to sustainability through its "Commitment to Origins" line of coffees ." (see related Praise items) Source: The Green Life

• Despite claims that the company would improve the wages and working conditions of impoverished workers on coffee plantations in Guatemala and elsewhere, Starbucks still refuses to provide human rights monitors with information about where and how the company has made improvements. Critics say that there is little evidence that any improvement programs have been implemented. (See related Praise items.) Source: Biodemocracy News, March 2001

• In light of the EPA’s on-going investigation of the PFOA family of manufacturing chemicals which are known to contain the questionably hazardous chemical C-8, in July 2003, the Environmental Working Group asked food chains, including Starbucks, to disclose whether the food packaging products they use contain a chemical coating made of fluorinated telomers. DuPont, the first manufacturer of Teflon, which is produced with C-8, claims the chemical is not harmful to humans, but it has been found to cause reproductive and developmental problems in laboratory animals. Presently, only two food packaging products are scheduled for EPA testing. According to the EWG, "Details about the products are being claimed as confidential by the industry, and publicly available information is limited." As of October 2003, Starbucks had not replied to EWG inquiries about the contents of its packaging materials. Source: Environmental Working Group, Dec. 16, 2003

• Starbucks refuses to guarantee that milk, beverages, chocolate, ice cream, and baked goods sold in the company's stores are free of genetically engineered ingredients, including recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH). Starbucks is reportedly still using milk from dairies that allow cows to be injected with Monsanto produced rBGH. The hormone is banned in every industrialized nation besides the U.S., is known to cause health problems in dairy cows, and is "associated with a higher risk of cancer in humans." Source: Biodemocracy News *

• An investigation by The Sun newspaper uncovered that Starbucks wastes more than 6 million gallons of water per day by continuously running its’ tap water. It is the equivalent of filling an Olympic pool every 83 minutes. As part of a company policy aimed at preventing germ buildup in its taps, Starbucks stores are directed to keep water running constantly into a sink, called a dipper well, to clean utensils and wash away food residue, The Sun reported.

• Controversy has surrounded Ethos, a brand of bottled water acquired by Starbucks in 2005 which is sold at locations in the United States and Canada. The slogan for Ethos is “helping children get clean water”. Five cents from each purchased bottle is used to fund clean water projects in third world countries. Critics feel that the wording on the bottle is purposely misleading. Ethos is not a charity, but a for-profit company where less than 3% of its’ sales go to the funding of clean water projects. This means that only 5 cents per bottle, on a $1.80 bottle of water actually goes to fund these projects.

• A San Diego judge ruled that Starbucks must repay over $100 million dollars back to employees after violating a state law that prohibited managers and supervisors from sharing in employee tips. Starbucks was trying to subsidize its’ labor costs by splitting the tips with managers, supervisors and employees.

• Starbucks had been accused of firing workers who talked about unionizing. The fired employees felt that although Starbucks promotes itself as a socially responsible company it was anything but. The case that was set to go to trial not only alleged that Starbucks discouraged union activity but that they also exaggerated their benefit package. Only 42% of its’ workers have health care benefits, a figure which is lower than Walmart’s. The National Labor Relations Board found that many of the claims filed against the company had substance. Starbucks had fired three pro-union employees, gave others unfair negative performance reviews, and unfairly banned workers from wearing multiple union pins. The National Labor Relations Board’s regional office will hold further hearings on these issues. Starbucks settled the case without admitting guilt in March of 2006, and paid $2,000 to former employees and offered their jobs back. Starbucks also signed a consent decree promising it wouldn't threaten union supporters with negative performance reviews or transfers to other stores. It also agreed that it would not foster an atmosphere in which "union activities are under surveillance."

[edit] Praise

• Seattle's Best offers organic coffee certified by the Washington State Department of Agriculture. Source: Seattle's Best Coffee

• In December 2004 Starbucks became one of the first global corporations to formally endorse The Calvert Women's Principles, a code of corporate conduct focused on promoting gender equality and women's empowerment and in doing so have committed to implementing the principles in their business practices and operations. The Principles, launched in June 2004 at an event co-hosted by the United Nations Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM), provide companies with goals they can aspire to and measure progress against in areas such as wages and benefits; health, safety and violence; discrimination in the workplace; civic and community engagement; and management and governance. Source: CSRWire

• Starbucks ranked 45th on Business Ethics' list of "The 100 Best Corporate Citizens" of 2004. Companies were chosen according to their relations with employees, customers, and the community as well as their commitment to the environment and diversity. Source: Business Ethics

Starbucks has been Praised for its Fair Trade practices:

• In March 2004, Starbucks announced a donation of $1 million to the Calvert Community Investments program to help the plight of coffee farmers. With the capital provided by Starbucks, funds were distributed in early 2004 to three Fair Trade coffee cooperatives in Costa Rica, Mexico and Nicaragua, and to Ecologic Enterprise Ventures, a nonprofit organization that provides affordable crop financing to smallholder coffee producer cooperatives in Latin America.The company has worked with Calvert since 2001, when it provided $150,000 to help finance affordable housing and non-profit/small-business facilities in low-income communities across North America. Starbucks investments through Calvert have helped support The Low Income Housing Fund in San Francisco, the Corporation for Open Land in Illinois, and ACCION New York, Inc.

• Seattle's Best Coffee offers coffee certified as Fair Trade by TransFair USA. Small farmers included in the International Fair Trade Coffee Register are guaranteed a minimum "fair trade price" and credit against future sales. Importers and roasters agree to develop long-term trade relationships with producer groups. Organic coffee is grown without using any pesticides, herbicides and fungicides, many of which are banned in the United States. Shade-grown or bird-friendly coffee is grown on traditional coffee plantations under the canopy of forest trees, where more than 150 species of migratory birds live.

• In October 2000, Starbucks began selling Fair Trade certified coffee at all of its nationwide locations. A product is labeled "Fair Trade" when the crop is grown "under relatively safe conditions and received a minimum of $1.26 a pound -- up to 80 cents a pound more than is typically paid to them by middlemen."
  • In 2003 Starbucks purchased 6.7 million pounds of coffee that was Fair Trade Certified, an increase of 97 percent over the previous year.
  • In July 2003 Starbucks announced that it would join with Conservation International to produce coffees in biologically diverse areas that are threatened. The latest, Conservation Colombia, is grown in the mountain forests of the western Andes.
  • Since 2000 Starbucks has increased the amount of fair trade organic coffee and coffee grown in conservation areas from 646,000 pounds to 3.4 million pounds. According to its Corporate Social Responsibility Report Starbucks gave $200,000 to a fund that provides natural emergency relief in countries where it buys its coffee. (see related Alert items) Source: San Diego Union-Tribune, October 4, 2000, et al.

• Seattle's Best Coffee was nominated in 2001 for the U.S. Department of State Award for Corporate Excellence in recognition of its business practices in Peru. Seattle's Best Coffee formed a cooperative relationship with independent, family-owned coffee farms in which they offered farm owners a fixed premium on their coffee that is unaffected by changes in market prices. This relationship not only improved the quality of life of coffee farmers in Peru but also influenced the Coffee Association of America , in cooperation with USAID, to help small coffee farmers worldwide improve their production, quality, and incomes. (see related Alert items) Source: PR Newswire, July 17, 2001

• In June 2004 Starbucks announced that it had joined the United Nations Global Compact. The Global Compact is an international network of corporations, U.N. agencies, trade unions and non-governmental organizations that support a shared set of nine principles on the environment, labor, and human rights. Source: CSRWire

• After the September 11, 2001 terrorist attack on the World Trade center and the Pentagon, Starbucks donated $1 million for relief efforts. Source: United Press International, Sept. 20, 2001

• In 2005, Starbucks plans to invest $1 million for the improvement of parks throughout King, Pierce and Snohomish Counties in Washington State. Through their Neighborhood Parks Grants program, Starbucks will award 30 grants of up to $15,000 each to community groups undertaking park improvement projects. Additionally, the Starbucks Parks Fund will support signature park projects, based on community need, with a total commitment of $550,000. Source: CSRWire

• On December 23, 2004 Starbucks contributed $200,000 to CARE, an international humanitarian and development organization, to fund a two-year pilot program to help improve the quality of life for eight indigenous Mayan communities in the San Pedro Jocopilas one of the poorest regions in Guatemala where seventy percent of the people are living in extreme poverty. Starbucks has been working together with CARE since 1991 to find lasting solutions to poverty through projects in agriculture and natural resources, economic development, education, food, health, water and sanitation and emergency response. Source: CSRWire

• Starbucks is a charter sponsor of Quincy Jones "We Are the Future" concert, which was organized to raise awareness and financial support for the plight of children in countries hit hardest by war. Starbucks will sell a live music CD compilation of selected songs from the 6-hour concert and donate 100 percent of the proceeds to the "We Are The Future" organization. Source: CSRWire.com

• Starbucks will contribute £100,000 to Oxfam GB’s rural development program. This pilot program will help to improve irrigation and provide seeds and tools in the East Hararge region of Ethiopia where farmers fight poverty and drought to produce high-quality Arabica coffee. As part of the program, Starbuck’s will also offer advice on improving coffee yields and quality and on strengthening the grower’s marketing co-operative. Source: Ethical Corporation

• In May 2004 Starbucks announced the winners of its 2003 Starbucks Special Reserve contest, the company’s annual search for the world’s best coffee. The coffee company said it would distribute award money to four coffee farming communities in Sumatra, Guatemala and Kenya to support social improvement projects that were jointly determined by the winning farming cooperative and Starbucks. In Indonesia, the money will be used to provide a water supply system to families who previously relied on rain as their primary source of water. In Guatemala the money will be used build a new health clinic that will serve more than 2,800 people during the harvest season and to make improvements on a building used by temporary workers during harvest season and to expand of health clinic services and information. In Kenya the money will be used to purchase an ambulance for a hospice that cares for terminally ill cancer patients and HIV-AIDS patients. Source: CSRWire.com

• America SCORES, a national after-school program, announced on Oct. 25, 2004 that it has received a $500,000 grant from The Starbucks Foundation that will be distributed over two years to help the organization grow its national after-school programs. The financial support from Starbucks enables America SCORES to further develop and strengthen its programs, which use poetry, soccer and community service to promote literacy and the physical and social well-being of at-risk youth in urban communities nationwide. Source: CSRWire

Starbucks has been Praised for its Pro-Diversity Measures:

• Starbucks achieved a score of 86 on the Human Rights Campaign 2003 Corporate Equality Index which rates large corporations on policies that affect their gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgender employees, consumers and investors. The 2003 HRC Corporate Equality Index rated 250 companies on a scale of 0 percent to 100 percent on seven factors. The company also achieved a score of 86 on the organization's 2002 Corporate Equality Index.
  • Starbucks has non-discrimination policy that includes sexual orientation.
  • Starbucks offers domestic partner health insurance benefits to its employees. Source: Human Rights Campaign, et al.

• Starbucks Coffee Company received the first-ever EnviroStars Recognized Leader distinction, a new designation established by the EnviroStars business certification program to acknowledge a select group of highly successful businesses that are taking substantial steps towards reducing their environmental footprint in the Puget Sound region and beyond. The business certification program, a service of the Local Hazardous Waste Management Program in King County supports businesses in the management and reduction of hazardous waste, and rates them with 2- to 5-stars according to their demonstrated commitment to environmentally responsible practices. Currently, there are approximately 600 businesses certified in the region. Source: Ethical Corporation

• In 2004 Starbucks partnered with Earth Day Network (EDN) for the third straight year to promote environmental awareness. For six weeks leading up to Earth Day, April 22, 2004, Starbucks features five different environmental messages on their coffee cup sleeves. Cup sleeve messaging include the following five tips: (1) factor in fuel efficiency when shopping for a new car; (2) make your environmental voice heard by registering to vote; (3) measure your environmental footprint at earthday.org; (4) equip your home with Energy Star certified products; (5) use an energy efficient showerhead. Source: CSRWire

• Starbuck's promote its Fair Trade Blend as "Coffee of the Week" from May 3-9 2004 in recognition of International Fair Trade Week. The "Coffee of the Week" program helps Starbucks educate customers about its different whole bean offerings. Source: CSRWire.com

• Starbucks and Conservation International (CI) have joined forces with the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to create the Conservation Coffee Alliance. The goals of the alliance, which will focus on Central America and Mexico, include increasing the number of coffee producers participating in the Conservation Coffee program, expanding the area of coffee fields that are being farmed using best practices, and making more high quality sustainable green coffee available to roasters. Alliance efforts have been funded by three-year commitments from USAID and Starbucks at $1.2 million and $1.5 million respectively. Source: GreenBiz

• In November 2004 Starbucks announced the Coffee and Farmer Equity (C.A.F.E.) Practices Program, developed with the assistance of Conservation International and other non-governmental organizations, to ensure that by 2007, 60 percent of its coffee will come from farmers following strict rules on everything from forestation to pesticides to labor practices. Starbucks hopes to keep increasing the amount of coffee it buys under C.A.F.E. Practices after it reaches the 60 percent goal; however the company acknowledges that it probably will not reach 100 percent because of difficulties in countries where the government controls coffee supplies, such as Kenya. Source: GreenBiz

• In November 2001, Starbucks announced a plan to reward its coffee suppliers by paying them up to 10 cents more per pound of coffee if they demonstrate efforts to protect the environment and the health and safety of their workers. The company said it is committed to the plan through 2003 at which time it will re-evaluate it. Source: Associated Press, Nov. 12, 2001

• Starbucks encourages gardners to pick up a free bag of spent coffee grounds for use in gardens and composting bins. What originated as a grass roots initiative in 1996, "Grounds for Your Garden" is a program offered at all Starbucks Company-operated retail stores across North America. Complimentary spent grounds are available year-round to customers on a first come, first serve basis. The grounds are packaged in reused coffee bags and sealed with the"Grounds for Your Garden" sticker with simple directions for using the grounds in the garden or compost pile. Source: SRI World Group, Inc.- July 16, 2003

• Starbucks ranked 11th on Fortune magazine's "Best Companies to Work For" in 2004. The company was named to the list for offering employees generous benefits, such as giving part-time employees and their partners comprehensive health benefits. The company ranked 34th in the 2003 listing. Source: Fortune, Jan 24, 2005

• Starbucks offers part-time employees who work an average of 20 hours a week full benefits. Source: Calvert Online, January 4, 2001

• Starbucks, TransFair USA and the Fairtrade Labelling Organiations International (FLO) today announced a groundbreaking initiative that builds upon the organizations' shared history of support for small-scale coffee farmers. Starbucks, one of the largest buyers of Fair Trade Certified coffee, will double its purchases to 40 million pounds in 2009, making the company the largest purchaser of Fair Trade Certified coffee in the world. Marking a new phase in their nine-year relationship with Starbucks, TransFair USA and FLO will join Conservation International as key partners in the Starbucks Shared Planet commitment to ethical sourcing. http://www.organicconsumers.org/articles/article_15377.cfm

• At the beginning of 2008 all of Starbucks milk supplies (milk, heavy cream, eggnog, etc) comes from comes from cows that were not injected with the bovine growth hormone, rBGH. Source: Food and Water Watch, Aug. 27, 2007.

• Starbucks ended its monetary support of the rodeo industry due to a campaign by Shark (Showing Animals Respect and Kindness). Source: http://www.sharkonline.org/?P=0000000391