Protesters to Occupy Virginia Beach Starbucks Over Vegan Milk Upcharge
PETA’s ‘Week of Action’ Will ‘Press’ Chain to Stop Penalizing People for Choosing Eco- and Animal-Friendly Options
For Immediate Release:
January 20, 2020
Contact:
David Perle 202-483-7382
On Tuesday, a group of PETA protesters will gather peacefully inside a Starbucks on Laskin Road to urge the company to dump its surcharge for dairy-free milk. The sit-in—a part of PETA’s Week of Action, during which supporters will occupy Starbucks locations across the U.S. and Canada—follows a recent protest at the home of Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson.
“Soy and nut milks shouldn’t cost a cent more than their dairy counterparts, which are cruel to cows, contribute to climate change, and are indigestible to many humans,” says PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman. “PETA is upping the pressure on Starbucks to wake up and smell the coffee: It’s time for the unfair surcharge to end.”
In today’s dairy industry, cows are artificially inseminated (raped via an inserted syringe) and calves are torn away from their loving mothers within a day of birth. Male calves are often slaughtered for veal, and females are eventually sentenced to the same miserable fate as their mothers. And according to the United Nations, animal agriculture is responsible for nearly a fifth of human-induced greenhouse-gas emissions and a global shift to vegan eating is vital if we are to combat the worst effects of climate change.
Where: Starbucks, 1612 Laskin Rd., Virginia Beach
When: Tuesday, January 21, 11:30 a.m.–1 p.m.
PETA—whose motto reads, in part, that “animals are not ours to eat”—opposes speciesism, which is a human-supremacist worldview. For more information, please visit PETA.org.
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