Starbucks has announced the closing of 600 stores, but fear not fair-trade coffee addicts. Yes, we know Starbucks is North America’s largest buyer of fair-trade coffee, and has inspired other coffee houses and retailers like Sam’s Club to jump on the fair-trade bandwagon, but you can still get your friendly fair-trade coffee elsewhere. If your neighborhood Starbucks is packing up shop, why not use this opportunity to check-out some of the local coffee huts in your area and give your hard-earned cash to local businesses? If you’ve got one in mind already, consider listing it on Greenopia and share the love! You can also choose from this variety of fair-trade coffees and consider brewing your morning cup-o-joe at home – it’s cheaper and doesn’t waste unnecessary paper and plastic cups.

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If you’re concerned about what junk is making its way into what you’re eating and drinking, and want to make sure your food is safe for you and the environment, Food & Water Watch has got you covered. A group based in Washington, D.C., the good people at this organization are monitoring what’s going into our food and drink, and trying to enact change. Here’s what they’re all about, straight from the source:

At Food & Water Watch we believe that the public should be able to count on our government to oversee and protect the quality and safety of food and water. We deserve to know that food and water are free of unhealthy chemicals, bacteria and added hormones. We have the right to know where our food comes from with accurate labeling and we have the right to clean, affordable, publicly owned water.

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Today is Starbucks Free Coffee Day! We all love free stuff but instead of getting your cup of joe on the house today, you can also choose to go to Starbucks and order a cup of their Fair Trade certified coffee.

In 2000, Starbucks started a campaign promising that they will brew a pot of fair trade coffee for anyone who asks for it. Learn more about the Starbucks fair trade campaign here and here.

Visit Transfair USA to learn more and

Also, watch the amazing documentary Black Gold which explores the world of coffee and trade.

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Sandie Anderson, an employee at Starbucks coffee shop for over four years, has decided to give one of her regular patrons a very special off-menu offer ““ her kidney. Anderson and Annamarie Ausness have developed a friendly relationship over the last three years during Ausness’ daily visits to Starbucks for her morning “short drip, double cup” coffee. When Ausness told Ms. Anderson that her polycystic kidney disease was worsening, Ms. Anderson offered to be tested to see if she was a blood match. When they found out that she was, Anderson gave Ausness the good news.

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The IWW, International Workers of the World, or Wobblies, are uniting against Starbucks’ union busting activity, which includes firing workers for attempting to organize. National Labor Relations Board, slightly to the right of the IWW, has charged Starbucks with breaking the law 30 times. And e-mails leaked to the Wall Street Journal reveal how Starbucks officials block union activity: “Below is a summary of the recent developments in New York City regarding our attempts to thwart a potential union situation.”

Protesting outside the Starbucks on Fifth Avenue and East 33rd Street, organizers also criticized Starbucks for refusing to pay their employees overpay for working on Martin Luther King Day. Meanwhile, inside the store, a Starbucks spokesman attempted to do some damage control (I think) by responding that while Starbucks does not honor the holiday for slain civil rights leader Martin Luther King, the company does observe and over time for other holidays. Wow! I feel so much better!

Tell Starbucks to refrain from “thwarting a potential union situation,” and intimidating its workers and their unionization efforts.

On an unofficial Starbucks gossip blog, a barista identified as Cassandra has decided to risk it all in protest of Starbucks’ new policy on instructing employees to call non-fat, sugar-free drinks “skinny.” Below is an excerpt from her post:

Imagine going to work for several hours at a time, and hearing the term “skinny” being called out countless times. It will undoubtedly have a negative affect on a person’s self-esteem that may already be low from living in a society that is generally not accepting of people who do not fit the mold of a “beautiful” person.

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Two companies that I love to hate are set to do battle. McDonalds has revealed a plan to enter the high end coffee business and is going to start hiring baristas, directly challenging Starbucks:

The news comes as Starbucks stock has lost half its value over the past year, as the huge chain’s growth has slowed amid rising competition from the likes of McDonald’s and closely held Dunkin’ Donuts. The McDonald’s challenge has been a long time in coming - people in the industry have been forecasting a premium coffee face-off for more than a year [CNN] 

I can’t lie that this makes me excited - my hope is that the two will cancel each other out! My biggest hope is that the publie will deny both establishments and choose to go to places that sell fair trade coffee. I highly recommend anyone who enjoys a cup of joe in the morning watch the movie Black Gold and learn about how your caffeine fix has a lot of impact on some of the poorest people in the world:

Starbucks is blaming a decrease in US consumer spending for their first ever fall in traffic. Shares also fell as the company has announced that they will open less stores in 2008 and start their first ever televison advertising campaign.It’s interesting that Starbucks is actually starting to falter just as consumer’s are becoming more informed about fair trade coffee and Starbucks lack of it from movie such as the Francis’ brothers Black Gold and from more exposure in the news.One person that will no doubt be happy by this news is Reverend Billy of the Church of Stop Shopping. Not only is Reverend Billy against consumerism but he has a particular distaste for Starbucks. Check out the Reverend himself speaking out against Starbucks history of using non fair trade coffee and union busting when their employees decided to organize. Want more of the Reverend check out the trailer for his new movie What Would Jesus Buy? and what happened when he brought the film to South by Southwest almost a year ago. You can catch the film in New York now and in LA starting November 21st.