Well, Neil Young continues on his roll against the ongoing global insanity in his latest open letter published on the official news site NY Times. After denouncing corporate corruption, fossil fuel foolishness, and poor quality MP3's -- among other crusades -- now Neil Young is going after Starbucks Corporation, Monsanto Corporation and GMO's. And standing up for the good folks up in Vermont.GOODBYE STARBUCKS!!!
I used to line up and get my latte everyday, but yesterday was my last one.
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.
Hiding behind the shadowy "Grocery Manufacturers Association," Starbucks is supporting a lawsuit that's aiming to block a landmark law that requires genetically-modified ingredients be labeled. Amazingly, it claims that the law is an assault on corporations' right to free speech.
Monsanto might not care what we think -- but as a public-facing company, Starbucks does. 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.
Vermont is a small, entirely rural state with just 600,000 people. It's a classic David and Goliath fight between Vermont and Monsanto. 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.
There's much more at stake here than just whether GMO foods will be labeled in a single U.S. state. Vermont is the very first state in the U.S. to require labeling. Dozens of other states have said that they will follow this path -- in order to encourage this, we need to ensure that Vermont's law stands strong.
That's why Monsanto and its new allies are fighting so hard to kill GMO labeling in Vermont.
But whatever you think of GMOs, corporations should not be using massive lawsuits to overturn legitimate, democratic decisions with strong public backing.
SumOfUs is already fighting back -- they helped Vermont raise almost a quarter of a million dollars to defend themselves against Monsanto's bullying! Help them by going to SumOfUs and registering to donate or sign a petition. The next strategic step is to pressure and call out members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, the shadowy body leading the lawsuit. Your backing can help.
Add your voice now. Tell Starbucks to stop supporting the lawsuit against Vermont.
Thanks for caring!
Neil Young
Nov 9, 2014
Vancouver BC Canada
"Dream up, dream up, let me fill you cup..."
OK, so what's next? Maybe we can get Neil to go after endless war? Oh yeah, "Living with War". Maybe support alternative fuels? Oh yeah, Linc Volt. Support family farmers and healthy food maybe? Oh yeah, Farm Aid concerts.
And don't get Neil started on environmentally destructive cotton t-shirts for concert tours...
Neil Young
MusiCares Person Of The Year - 2010
That Neil. Such a Humanitarian Rebel With Causes.
Here is the boycott list of products that are causing genetic mutations in our children:
ReplyDeletehttp://fracturedparadigm.com/2013/04/02/boycott-monsanto-a-simple-list-of-companies-to-avoid/#axzz3JBdxdd3X
PLEASE IF YOU LOVE YOUR CHILDREN, DO NOT BUY THESE PRODUCTS!!
Is it just me who finds it hard to believe that Neil used to line up in front of Starbucks every day?
ReplyDelete@MNOTR - thanks for the shopping tips.
ReplyDeleteVote with your wallet.
@Bernard - yes, that does seem improbable in a literal sense.
Um...Shakey, your order's ready. Shakey?
ReplyDeleteDidn't he once say something like: "Starbucks put me right in the middle of the road. But drinking there soon became a bore, so I headed for the ditch. Rougher brands, but I saw some more interesting coffee there."
ReplyDeleteFrom Grinding Stone, or something?
@dickie, I sort of remember him saying something along the way like "Back then people closed their eyes and just drank their coffee. Today there's a lot of images that go with drinking coffee. A lot of coffee is crap and it's all commercial and the images are all trying to sell the coffee. I just do what I do. I like to drink coffee."
ReplyDelete@MotherNatureontheRun: right, right. Well, I guess the lyrics to "Homebrewed" were an early sign of his move away from corporate coffee. And what about "It's better to grind down than to take away"? Isn't that obvious? I mean, we could've seen this one coming years ago...
ReplyDeleteGet your coffee at Grotto Cafe, Cave Creek, AZ your posters and many musicians music stays alive there. ROC2 always served daily ORGANIC!
ReplyDeleteMy favorite is "danger brew"
ReplyDeleteLove that song. Kind of a sequel to "(I Wanna Drink From A) Cinnamon Cup." Also, less explicitly political than, say, "Southern Brew". Message gets through, anyway.
ReplyDelete@dickie
ReplyDeleteI am very happy with a little bit o'cinnamon in my brew, too.
Anyone notice that Young is boycotting the very place that sells CSNY 74?therefore boycotting his own product?
ReplyDeleteAnyone notice that Young is boycotting the very place that sells CSNY 74?therefore boycotting his own product?
ReplyDeleteFirst of all, I'm not sure Starbuck's is as much an "Active Participant" as you would lead us to believe. But more importantly if you're going to post you personal feelings about important issues I think you should use your own thoughts, words and feelings. Copying the words of organizations like SumOfUs fails to validate your credibility. See http://action.sumofus.org/a/starbucks-gmo-gma/?sub=homepage
ReplyDeleteAs far as GMO identification and the moral responsibility of food manufacturers to reveal what's in their packaging, I agree with you and yours. But we need to be honest and take the high ground as we try to influence the marketplace. My personal decision is to only support products that are NON-GMO and label their packaging. Thanks
Larry
@Philip: wow, is that right? Then this is just another put down of poor Crosby.. Punishing him for his poor remarks about Darryl Hannah, by obstructing CSNY coffee shop sales.. Woodstock Homebrew Spirit!
ReplyDeleteI love David Crosby. What did he do?
ReplyDeleteYou're kidding, right? Ahem, ehh, just in case, how to explain here... (cough). Well, let's say Crosby said some not so nice things about a girl Neil really, really likes... and now Neil's mad, wouldn't you be? And he says he won't play with David anymore... And uh, Graham is trying to help out, but Neil is still mad and says he tried to fix things with David but it didn't work out and now it's still broken... check it out here, for instance.. http://ultimateclassicrock.com/david-crosby-neil-young-comments/
ReplyDeleteWell I can always count on "Old Major" to see truth in something that looks pretty murky from all the lying and deceit. It's what drove dear David into that sea of madness so he knows what he's talking about.
ReplyDeleteI think my friend Claude said that all art is the most beautiful deception of all. When people begin using it as a means to an end, it becomes as sad as looking at an old abandoned factory.
For me, watching Neil's 36 year relationship with Pegi unfold so publicly is like watching an old factory burn down.
True that, Mother Nature. Although, I don't know about the factory. A farm comes to mind more than a factory, frankly, but may be that's wishful thinking, believing the song too much..
ReplyDeleteKind of miss the days when Neil was underground. Love his music forever. But I never thought I would see the day that Neil would be in the news everyday. Again love the tunes, Keep on a Rockin in the Free World!
ReplyDelete