Starbucks & Panera: Why Environmentalism Isn't Enough
"Your words mean nothing to me,
It’s time to eat what you speak"–Nothing More,
“Take a Bullet”
Earlier this year, both Starbucks and Panera Bread made claims about how they will be focusing on expanding their plant-based food and drink offerings as part of their sustainability initiatives. While this is great news, it seems these companies are still a little confused about what sustainability really is. Additionally, it's very clear that they have no real regard for animal welfare, only using the term to greenwash their products. They tell the vegan community that they care about the environment, so they're going more plant-based, but they tell the carnist community that they care about animals, so they only serve "humane" animal products. They just want money from compassionate consumers.
Panera Bread
Apparently one-quarter of their menu is already plant-based. But if you go onto their website, you'll see that they include in that number apples, bagels, oatmeals, and smoothies. They have just one vegan soup and one vegan salad. All their other sandwiches and entrees must be customized in order to actually be vegan; it's clear that they're intentionally skewing the numbers by giving a banana the same weight as a sandwich when the two are clearly not comparable. When you do a little digging, they include vegetarian items, of which they have several, as plant-based, another way to make themselves look better. I'm not sure who they're trying to fool, though, because any vegan can easily see through this once they try to order something.
Panera supposedly plans to convert half of its menu to plant-based, which I'd be ecstatic about if I actually believed it (and if that didn't just mean vegetarian). I used to love going to Panera Bread; the mac and cheese was (literally) addictive. They've been making claims for years about adding more plant-based options to their menu, but nothing ever changes. Maybe they've seen how fast veganism is growing and want to cash in on it now, which would be fine if they're actually going to make serious changes in their menu.
It wasn't until just a few days ago (2/19/2020) that Panera finally announced that they're dropping the vegan milk surcharge, an extra fee you'd have to pay for choosing non-dairy milk instead of dairy. Customers also are often charged extra to replace meat with a plant-based substitute, like avocado. If they cared so much about the environmental impact of meat and dairy production, as they claimed when they announced this news, why are they making it more difficult for consumers to switch to environmentally-friendly options?
Starbucks
I've never understood why everyone is so obsessed with Starbucks. Maybe it's because I don't drink coffee. However, I could give them a shot once they launch their plant-based breakfast sandwich later this year. Adding more plant-based products like this is one step of their new "sustainability commitment." This also includes "plans to encourage more customers to shift away from animal-derived dairy," offering more plant-based milk options. Arguably, this is more important than the plant-based meat in the breakfast sandwich, as the majority of consumers go there for coffee. I hope, however, that they will also make their pastries and other food offerings plant-based as well.
Additionally, they are planning to convert to reusable packaging, though I'll be interested to see how that happens, which is definitely a step up from Panera who has mentioned nothing about this issue. However, another problem is that Starbucks still has a surcharge on orders in which customers swap dairy milk for plant-based. If they genuinely cared about the environment, they should be putting a surcharge on all of their animal-based products. But that would probably offend all the nonvegans they depend on for profit.
The Two Main Problems
Overall, I could be saying most of these same things about practically any other restaurant chain, but these companies have found their niche in the hipster/sustainability sector. Therefore, when they start making claims about all the good they do for the environment, I take offense at this blatant greenwashing because they're obviously either completely clueless or intentionally deceitful about how terrible their "grass-fed beef" and "cage-free eggs" are for the environment.
Additionally, they never once mention the animals, aside from saying that dairy is a large contributor to the climate crisis or that their dairy is produced humanely. They aren't doing this for the animals because these corporations couldn't care less about their suffering; they grew to be so massive because of their suffering. While I'm happy to see these changes occurring, the animals are still being swept under the rug because the public will barely even acknowledge their existence.
This will probably continue for quite some time because these businesses want to keep their carnist clients content by selling them animal products but also tap into the growing vegan market by saying that they care about the environment and will offer more plant-based products. But you can't have it both ways, Starbucks and Panera; you can't claim to care about the environment while simultaneously ensuring its destruction, even if it's on a slightly smaller scale. So, while the positive (or less negative) environmental impact of a vegan lifestyle is great, veganism is and always will be about the animals.
be conscious, be kind, be vegan
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"A Message from Starbucks CEO Kevin Johnson: Starbucks New Sustainability Commitment"