Boycotting Starbucks... it is going to be hard...

I was looking at the OCA site- Organic Consumers Association website and I hadn't heard about all the bad stuff on Starbucks before now- So let me share-
http://www.organicconsumers.org/Starbucks/leaflet.pdf

Protest Starbucks
Join OCA and take the Starbucks challenge and protest or leaflet Starbucks cafes in your neighborhood. Let's educate Starbucks' patrons about Fair Trade and rBGH.
Despite over five years of grassroots pressure, Starbucks continues to serve milk from cows that are injected with genetically engineered recombinant bovine growth hormone, also known as rBGH or rBST. Virtually every industrial country, except for the United States, has banned the sale of rBGH milk. Milk produced from cows injected with rBGH poses serious dangers to human health and the general welfare to dairy cows.
The time has come to kick rBGH off the market, once and for all. If Starbucks, a major buyer of milk, were to reject rBGH dairy products, we could effectively eliminate it from the market.
Similarly, while Starbucks has slowly bought more certified Fair Trade coffee, it represents only a very small percentage of their total coffee (about 3.7%). Starbucks rarely offers certified Fair Trade coffee as their coffee of the day, nor has it followed its own policy of brewing Fair Trade coffee, on demand.
1. Take the Starbucks Challenge! Hold Starbucks to their word. Simply visit your local Starbucks and ask: "Could I get a cup of fair trade coffee?" and let us know how it went.

And here is some infor about Fair Trade Coffee
Many coffee farmers receive prices for their harvest that can be less than the costs of production, forcing them into a cycle of poverty and debt. They are often forced to sell to middlemen who pay them half the market price, generally between 30-50 per pound.
Fair trade coffee sells for a minimum of $1.26 per pound.
This money goes directly to coffee farmers, not to predatory middlemen.
Fair Trade farmers are also insured access to credit at the beginning of the harvest season so they can support themselves during the "lean months" between harvests.
A typical Fair Trade farmer cultivates less than 3 hectares (7 acres) of coffee and harvests 1,000-3,000 pounds of unroasted coffee a year
More than 500,000 farmers around the world produce and sell more than 170 million pounds of coffee each year through the Fair Trade network. Over 100 fair trade coffee brands are sold worldwide in approximately 35,000 retail outlets (7,000 in the US).
About 85% of Fair Trade Certified coffee is shade grown and organic as small farmers have never had the money to purchase chemicals.
The first fair trade coffee label was started in 1998 in Holland under the name Max Havelaar and has since been followed by many others. In 1997, Fair Trade labelers formed an international umbrella group called Fair Trade Labeling Organizations (FLO) International, which defines the criteria for each product certified under the Fair Trade system, including coffee, tea, cocoa, sugar, honey, bananas and orange juice.
There are now over 50 importers and roasters in the US the largest being Equal Exchange (http://www.equalexchange.com/) who imported 1.6 million pounds of coffee last year.
... Unfortunately the supply of fair trade far outstrips the demand. Of the 170 million pounds of fair trade coffee produced globally only 35 million pounds are sold on the fair trade market. Coffee companies need to aggressively promote fair trade coffee.

"So what is in your cup?"

So my new favorite book is...

The Lazy Environmentalist by Josh Dorfman



Here is the link to the book at Amazon.com



http://www.amazon.com/Lazy-Environmentalist-Guide-Stylish-Living/dp/1584796022/ref=sr_1_1/103-7058403-7534217?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1182714124&sr=8-1

Check it out. It will make be green really really easy. And I love being green and I love it even more when it is easy...

So I am going to join the YMCA

Now don't get your hard hat out or your Indian costume just so fast- I am going to join the YMCA to work out- I need to do something- I am extremely unhappy with my weight and body shape.
And it doesn't help that my husband is now back down to his pre-pregnancy weight and needs to buy all new clothes to fit him... Oh and by the way, he hasn't really done much physical work to make that happen- Just yard work and house hold chores...So how the hell does that happen for men? I have always been able to eat what I want and not work out- I guess it is time realize I am in my 30s and it sucks....Damn metabolism. Where did you go? You and I were friends? I loved you- I bragged on you all the time! Please oh please come back :)

Maryland on my mind...

Weather is turning hot...and I am ready to move. I really want to move...I went to MD over Memorial Day weekend and miss it and my friends and family. I loved seeing my girl friends' children. I loved the idea of their kids all growing up together. I want that for my children- Okay enough boo hoo sob story for me. Chris says in about 3 years...For me to stop spending so much money and we can move :) So I guess I just have to be patient... I WANT TO GO NOW!
Hope to be up to visit again this summer soon!

About me--- I knew I was this.....

What Temperament are you? This relates to Waldorf education and how students are taught and learn... And really shows us how it takes all kinds...I knew I was Choleric...Read on and see :)

You Have a Choleric Temperament

You are a person of great enthusiasm - easily excited by many things.Unsatisfied by the ordinary, you are reaching for an epic, extraordinary life.You want the best. The best life. The best love. The best reputation. You posses a sharp and keen intellect. Your mind is your primary weapon.Strong willed, nothing can keep you down. Your energy can break down any wall.You're an instantly passionate person - and this passion gives you an intoxicating power over others. At your worst, you are a narcissist. Full of yourself and even proud of your faults.Stubborn and opinionated, you know what you think is right. End of discussion.A bit of a misanthrope, you often see others as weak, ignorant, and inferior.

What Temperment Are You?