Neil Young says he has drawn his last sip of Starbucks and is urging his fans to do the same. Young, the tech industry mogul behind the Pono digital music empire—and also apparently a musician of some sort—is ending a daily Starbucks latte habit, and he will presumably no longer be using Starbucks Wi-Fi to download lossless music files to play on his personal Pono brand music player.
In a statement posted on his official website, Young says he is boycotting Starbucks for having “teamed up with Monsanto to sue Vermont, and stop accurate food labeling.” Both companies are members of the Grocery Manufacturers Association, a lobbying group that is currently suing the state of Vermont over Act 120, a new law requiring labels by July 2016 for all foods containing genetically modified ingredients.
Young is calling for a Starbucks boycott and directing fans to a SumOfUs.org petition requesting that Starbucks, as well as Green Mountain Coffee, withdraw from GMA. Starbucks has responded, saying it takes no official position on GMO labeling and has no involvement in GMA’s lawsuit, though it gives no indication of any intention to leave GMA. Fortunately for Young, Costco does not appear to be a GMA member, which means he should be free to continue his cherished pastime of describing Costco shopping trips in excruciating detail.