Don’t let him down, Starbucks.
Sir Paul McCartney, 79, just learned that the coffee chain is up-charging Americans for plant-based milks, including soy, oat and almond — and the Beatle just can’t let it be.
So, McCartney — who owns multiple homes in the US — is calling out CEO Kevin Johnson of the Seattle-based company in an open letter he penned with the People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals.
“My friends at PETA are campaigning for this,” McCartney wrote in the letter, first published on Billboard.com. “I sincerely hope that for the future of the planet and animal welfare you are able to implement this policy.”
Johnson is reportedly due to retire on April 4, compelling McCartney to make his eleventh-hour plea.
“It recently came to my attention that Starbucks in the USA has an extra charge for plant-based milks as opposed to cow’s milk,” the Wings frontman began in the note.
“I must say this surprised me,” he continued, adding that Starbucks stores in the UK do not have a surcharge on milk alternatives. “I would like to politely request that you consider this policy also in Starbucks USA.”
The Post has asked Starbucks to share its response to the letter.
McCartney and Co. have long been known for their environmental and animal activism. The legendary songwriter has been outspoken about his vegetarian lifestyle since the 1970s, along with his first wife, the late Linda McCartney — to whom he vowed to continue fighting for animals in the wake of her death.
In 2010, McCartney narrated a campaign video for the animal rights group called Glass Walls, which aims to reveal the cruel conditions that livestock endure on the farm and in slaughterhouses. Meanwhile, their daughter, Stella, went on to pioneer the eco-fashion field and has worked with PETA on multiple anti-fur ads.
More recently, McCartney urged world leaders at the 2021 United Nations Climate Change Conference to adopt the Plant-Based Treaty into the Paris Agreement, which would see their countries move away from food industries supported by animals.
Eliminating dairy milk alone from our diet would offset the enormous amount of natural resources required to produce it when compared to plant-based milks — 10 times as much land and two to 20 times as much fresh water — while reducing its one-quarter share or more of the carbon footprint, according to the University of Oxford’s Global Change Data Lab.
