COVER -> RECOMMENDED DAILY REQUIREMENT
STARBUCKS & JOE CAMEL - Philip Morris funds itself with what we eat and drink, in case you didn't know. One of the G-Crew, who would prefer to maintain his anonymity for obvious reasons, was a drone to the Starbucks hegemony for most of the years I've known him. He's not proud of that. And with good reason.
As you sip that double Hazelnut Latté (ASIDE: "Latté" is a word that should always live in infamy, by my lights, and one that only a yuppie or yuppie-wannabe would ever utter --- where I live people still drink real coffee) consider the fact that your purveyor of choice, after having partnered with Well Fargo Bank in many places in California, now has a Licensing Agreement with Philip Morris.
Yes, THAT Philip Morris. The tobacco company responsible for the Joe Camel advertising campaign and trying to convince little kids that smoking cigarettes, a known carcinogen, is cool...
Don't get me wrong here. I've been smoking for over thirty years. They will have to pry this addictive weed from my cold dead fingers. AND, MAN, I WISH IT WERE SOME OTHER WAY! As many people have documented, nicotine is far more addictive than heroin. If you don't start, you're among the lucky.
I know people who have stopped smoking cigarettes FOUR OR FIVE TIMES.... They still smoke today.
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WHAT DOES THIS HAVE TO DO WITH G21's FOCUS ON FOOD THIS WEEK?
Besides Starbucks, because Philip Morris --- yes, THAT Philip Morris, the tobacco company --- is another multinational conglomerate here is a partial list of some of the foodstuffs you get from them:
- Maxwell House coffee
- Kraft Cracker Barrel cheese
- Philadelphia Creme Cheese
- Shreddies
- Shake & Bake products
- Coolwhip non-diary dessert toppings
- Post Raisin Bran
- Kraft Macaroni & Cheese
- Stove-Top Stuffing products
- Minute Rice
- Sanka coffee
- Post Grape Nuts
- Miller Genuine Draft
- Miracle Whip
Starbucks is just the latest to get in bed with "Joe Camel."
Like Archer Daniels Midland, cited in the previous RDR column, this company is driven by one motive and one only: net profits. It could give a good damn about your health or the health of your children. Remember, these are the guys who went before the United States Congress and said they didn't believe that cigarettes were addictive despite the research of their own corporate scientists proving that they are.
These are the guys who signed off on making cigarettes MORE ADDICTIVE by upping the levels of nicotine.
What a bunch of socially responsible altruists we have here!
In return for their perfidy, they got big year-end bonuses and will walk away millionaires with their grandchildren's educations completely covered...
And now these are the guys from whom you buy your food.
If this series of RDR articles has been about anything, it has been about making you think about a basic of human existence: sustenance.
We have tried to bring up international and local perspectives on who we are as human beings today and what we want in our lives. I can only hope that you will support long-running and interlocking focuses like this one.
It relates back to what we had to say earlier in the year about our water, too.
ACTION ITEM
There is something you can do to level this "playing field," if you are so inclined.I would recommend that you start at one of our favorite sites, Adbusters.org and read this article on changing the rules of limited liability.
You see, back in 1886 --- think about that --- the courts here in the United States decided that CORPORATIONS HAVE THE SAME RIGHTS AS PEOPLE. The very idea, in our post-modern world, is patently ABSURD.
But that was the era of Robber Barons, and there is now a way to reverse this wrong-headed decision. Follow the link above to get started. ________________________ EDITORIAL CORRECTION: Even our Editor gets it wrong sometimes. Philip Morris, while having closed the deal with Starbucks is NOT the company responsible for "Joe Camel" or Camel cigarettes. The culprits in the latter case are RJR (formerly known as R.J. Reynolds.) G21 apologizes for the error. -- Ed. (Thanks to Tac at smokescreen.org.)
This week's Poll - Is food something we should worry about?
RDR RECOMMENDED SITE OF THE DAY: You've been wondering, "Hey, G21, where can I get the latest skinny on what's going on over in Hong Kong?" We thought you'd never ask. Here, try visiting HongKong.com.
