James Cromwell has been politically active for decades. He’s very much the aging hippie who remembers all of the 1960s counterculture revolution activities because he was there, offering support to the Black Panthers. These days, he does a lot of work around animal rights, veganism and vegetarianism. Which brings me to this story. Apparently, Starbucks charges extra for non-diary milk, which I assume means almond milk or soy milk. This is a “tax” on vegans. So in protest, James Cromwell super-glued his hand to a Starbucks counter.
Actor James Cromwell went to great lengths while joining PETA’s protest against Starbucks on Tuesday. In a video shared by the animal rights organization, the Succession star, 82, superglued his hand to a counter in a New York City Starbucks to protest the coffee chain’s “senseless” upcharge for Vegan milk.
“There’s no reason for it except greed,” Cromwell says in part in a video shared by PETA on Facebook, later reading a letter and asking, “Will you stop charging more for vegan milk? When will you stop raking in huge profits while customers, animals, and the environment suffer? When you will stop penalizing people for their ethnicities and morals? The senseless upcharge hurts animals.”
After his message, Cromwell and other protesters begin to chant “Save the planet, save the cows. End the vegan upcharge now.” A woman who appears to be the store’s manager approaches the Babe actor and seems to ask him to stand up. “No,” Cromwell, who has been involved in numerous PETA protests in recent years, is heard saying. “I’m glued to your counter so I can’t get up.” After additional chanting, police walk in and address the protesters.
“The police have arrived and asked us to leave. We let them know that James and John are glued down,” a female activist tells the camera, motioning to the actor and another man whose hand is also superglued to the counter. “They feel that Starbucks needs to take this seriously for the sake of the planet, for the sake of the cows who are forcibly impregnated over and over and have their babies ripped away from them their entire lives.”
She adds that police had gone outside and were trying to figure out what steps to take with Cromwell and John. “We’re happy to stay all day if we need to,” the woman says. “It’s time for Starbucks to get the message.”
Police reenter the cafe before Cromwell is seen using a tool to separate his hand from the counter. He successfully gets his hand off before helping John remove his hand. Starbucks ultimately closed down the store, one protester says while outside. Cromwell and John are met with cheers as they walk out of the store. A protester then shares that the pair only removed their hands so they would not be arrested.
I mean, he has a point, but I also feel bad for the Starbucks employees who had to deal with him and call the cops on an elderly man. Starbucks has huge corporate issues and they’re fighting hard to stop unionization, and of course they’re upcharging for crazy sh-t like almond milk.
“Babe” & “Succession” actor James Cromwell superglued himself to the counter of a Starbucks café in New York City on Tuesday to protest of the chain’s policy of charging extra for plant-based milk https://t.co/8ud32BWh0k pic.twitter.com/Zx0bb2LvMD
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) May 10, 2022
Photos courtesy of Avalon Red.
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- James Cromwell at the “Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom” Premiere, Walt Disney Concert Hall, Los Angeles, CA 06-12-18,Image: 515370841, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251 Madrid: +34 91 533 4289, Model Release: no, Credit line: David Edwards/Dailyceleb.com 818-249-4998 / Avalon
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- Actor James Cromwell accepts the VIV/Animal Testing award onstage at PETA’s 35th Anniversary Party at Hollywood Palladium on September 30, 2015 in Los Angeles, California.,Image: 526907618, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Florida: +1 239 689 1883 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Kevin Winter / Avalon
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- James Cromwell at the TCM Classic Film Festival Opening Night Red Carpet, TCL Chinese Theater, Hollywood, CA 04-28-16,Image: 530427459, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Photoshot – sales@photoshot.com London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Martin Sloan / Avalon
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- James Cromwell, Anna Stuart at The Promise film premiere held at the TCL Chinese Theater in Hollywood. Los Angeles, California – Wednesday April 12, 2017. Photograph: © Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews. Los Angeles Office (PCN): +1 310.822.0419 UK Office (Photoshot): +44 (0) 20 7421 6000,Image: 531671732, License: Rights-managed, Restrictions: WORLD RIGHTS – DIRECT SALES ONLY- Fee Payable Upon Reproduction – For queries contact Avalon.red – sales@avalon.red London: +44 (0) 20 7421 6000 Los Angeles: +1 (310) 822 0419 Berlin: +49 (0) 30 76 212 251, Model Release: no, Credit line: Joe Sutter, PacificCoastNews / Avalon
He’s not wrong but I don’t care about milk prices as much as I care about Roe V. Wade right now. Will he glue his hand to the Supreme Court building in protest to that as well or…?
It’s a shame you can’t care about more than one cause at a time. The factory farm and dairy industries are incredibly inhumane, polluting and will never change unless they face enough scrutiny and the public is able to access other options at reasonable prices.
Who said that one cannot care about more than one thing at time. Women’s rights clearly don’t rate with you though.
I agree with ninja girl, you can care about more than one issue at a time.
Sometimes I watch videos about a dog rescue and there will be that one person that writes something like, “funny how some people care more about the life of a dog than their fellow human.” I hate that distraction tactic. Can we not do that and focus on the issue in the discussion?
I think he would, his family has been fighting for generations to ensure progressive and socialist causes. They are the living history of protest movements in the United States thank you very much.
His father John was one of the earliest left-wing activists in the nation. A director who was then named as a subversive by the witch hunt that was the House Un-American Activities Committee. He was persecuted alongside the Hollywood 10 and lost his entire career for it. James took on John’s mantle of activism from an early age.
What was your dad/granddad doing in 1951?! Fighting congress for leftist causes at the height of the Red Scare? Losing his career for it? No? Maybe pump the breaks a little.
These are not “fair weather” and non-intersectional activists. Not by a long shot.
It’s not just a tax on vegans. It discourages people from trying plant based milk substitutes and discovering that they can walk away from the horrifically cruel dairy industry with minimal impact on their own lives.
And it’s a tax on those who are lactose intolerant. I’ve thought about writing my local coffee shop owner about this. In the grocery store, the prices are basically the same now for me. But I ended up just avoiding buying anything anymore from coffee shops; it’s ridiculous to pay 80 cents more for a $4 drink just because my body will hurl itself into the sun if I even walk past dairy.
It is true, though; Roe v Wade is far more important to advocate for, and I hate stunts that harm workers who have nothing to do with the problem.
Meh, my son has severe allergies and we pay much more for peanut free/nut free/sesame free products. Anything allergy-safe costs much more than its regular unsafe products.
@NorthernGirl_20 – Yes, vegans and people with allergies are willing to pay more. But that misses the point that for the rest of the population the higher prices discourage switching to the more humane, environmentally sustainable options.
And speaking as someone who’s been active in reproductive rights causes since pre-adolescence, I don’t consider these issues entirely distinct or in competition for attention and activism. I can be very actively involved in political causes and reproductive rights while making daily decisions guided by ethical, environmentally sustainable principles. Peeling back the thinnest of veneers, I think we’ll find the same toxic capitalism driving both.
@bettyrose then shouldn’t people be protesting the manufacturers of the non-dairy milk for setting their prices higher than dairy milk? If the manufacturers of non-dairy milks want coffee shops to be the place where people try non-dairy milk instead of buying a half gallon to try, shouldn’t they be offering a discount on their products to coffee chains so they can offer their items at the same price as things made with dairy products?
I’m no fan of unfettered capitalism but it’s a little ridiculous to demand a coffee shop to eat more of their profits because vegans (and others who want to use a more expensive add-in) don’t want to pay the difference and are essentially demanding a discount. Frankly, I’m surprised another chain hasn’t made a deal with the manufacturer of non-dairy creamers/milks to get their products at a discount for a shared promo so they can offer coffee/tea made using these products at the same price as those made with dairy in order to take market share away from Starbucks
@pottymouth – that’s a good point. I’m no economist, and I’ve never compared the bulk prices for dairy versus other options, although I do know that plenty of family businesses just treat all the options the same, and don’t upcharge on the plant versions. But the comment still kinda misses the point. The protest isn’t about catering to the whims of a niche market. The protestors aren’t fighting to save vegans a few bucks. Starbucks is an appropriate forum for the topic of normalizing cruelty free environmental products because 1. environmentalism has always been part of their marketing and 2. as one of the largest chains in the world they have a platform to make a difference.
@bettyrose thans for the extra info on the company’s environmental platform (I don’t go to Starbucks – I’ve hated the smell of their overrated beans since I lived in Chicago and had to deal with that smell at O’Hare a couple of times/week).
Maybe this will sounds less like vegan whining over paying more for something that cuts a teeny bit more into Starbucks’ huge profit margin if focus of the protest was “hey, ya’ll claim protecting the environment is important to you so put your money where your mouth is, work with cashew/oat.coconut milk manufacturers, and find a way to incentivize people to use environmentally friendly plant milks instead of dairy” Right. now to people like me (who uses non-dairy products pretty exclusively) and even my vegan friends, it comes off as celebrity vegans whining that a product we know costs more increases the retail cost of products that use those more expensive ingredients). I don’t live in a particularly progressive or vegan friendly area (tho we have some nice vegan places and other places that will sell vegan fare) but the amount of plant milks/creamers is 1/2 – 2/3 of the regular milk/creamer section of regular grocery stores (sadly mostly almond milk products). They also have the non-dairy product in the ever growing natural foods section. All the ice cream shops are now carrying multiple vegan ice cream flavors now too so it’s clear that more and more people are using these products and the interest isn’t just limited to people who are vegan or have dairy allergies/significant lactose intolerance.
The majority of population prefers milk (if they’ve no allergy to dairy) and I’ve no idea why some people think that a charge on almond milk is discouraging other people from going vegan.
We buy our milk from a local farm and we tasted almond and soy milk (leftovers after my dairy allergic mum went back home), you couldn’t pay me a million dollar to drink them again.
I get it, but unfortunately the only people this had any negative effect on were the people who worked at that store who I’m guessing did not get paid when they closed the store after this stunt.
All the more reason to get that union in place.
This reminds me of the episode(s) on The Good Place where they realized that no matter what we do in this society, we’re contributing to harm because harm is built into our system(s).
Eh. If you’re going to use your celebrity to call attention to an issue, ranting about the price of vegan milk in an establishment that sells overpriced drinks to people with disposable income the same week that there’s a crisis with the availability of of something as essential as baby formula in, at best, tone deaf.
Also, is it possible that an ounce of vegan milk actually costs more than an ounce of cow’s milk, so that the charge is actually “fair” ?
Not to dismiss his concerns, but between the Supreme Court, the baby formula issue, and a few other long term issues affecting the fate of the planet, this, to me, seems like an odd way to protest a relatively narrow issue. Why not protest directly with Starbucks’ corporate headquarters? Or, with whoever sets the prices of various plant based “milks” — if the prices really are unreasonable?
Eleven year old Meghan could have helped him strategize!
This exactly. One person with money making a scene at a random Starbucks isn’t going to move the company to adjust the price. All it does is disrupt the work of the employees who make a drop in the bucket compared to him.
He sure got the attention but it wasn’t a mass call to change alternative milk prices.
I disagree. The dairy industry is so full of horrific problems that I won’t even get into it. It’s terrible for animals, the environment, humans. Globally. Let’s not even talk about Starbucks‘ numerous issues. This may seem like a dumb stunt for a minor issue but he got people‘s attention. We were talking about it in the office today. In Germany. And here Starbucks charges 50 cents extra for vegan milk, it is NOT that much more expensive than cows milk.
@emmi. if Starbucks stopped using dairy products altogether, they would not bring down the price of their products using non-dairy ingredients. I don’t know about pricing in Germany but locally in the Philly burbs, a half gallon of (non-organic) dairy milk runs anywhere between $2-3 where as a half gallon of non-dairy milk runs from $3-5.50 (rice milk sometime creeps to 6, not sure why). I’m sure chains buy in bulk to get a discount but they may get a deeper discount on dairy than non-dairy.
that said, the mark up on Starbucks for everything is pretty high but they’l charge what the market will bear. as I noted above, a smart chain wanting to take some market share has a huge opportunity here
I just checked and at my local supermarket (one of the largest German chains, Rewe) a liter of cows milk (cheapest full fat) is 92 cents, the cheapest (and organic) oat milk is 98 cents. I don’t know about wholesale prices either but this gives you an idea why 50 cents per drink is ridiculous.
That said, Starbucks has so many problems, I get a coffee there maybe 3x a year, when I’m travelling mostly.
Yeah–I feel for the poor workers who had to deal with this & then lost shifts when the PETA folks got a random Starbucks shut down for the day. Why not glue yourself to the door of Starbucks headquarters? Or protest on the sidewalk? But I guess that wouldn’t satisfy PETA’s love of stunt queening.
Good for him! Can’t stand Starbucks as a company. They were terrible to my poor cousin…firing him just before he became eligible to move up, so they didn’t have to pay him benefits…thankfully, smart guy that he is, he has his own coffee shop now, expanding to more.
And Starbucks coffee scyks
Agreed, their coffee is the most burnt tasting garbage I’ve ever had.
This action got _worldwide_ attention. Justifiably so: most plant milks should much cheaper than cow’s milk since it costs less to grow soybeans or oats than it does to feed a cow, and they cost less to produce. A while back, they essentially came to the conclusion here in Holland that the reason plant milks cost more is because of who drinks it and what those people are willing to pay. Now that food prices are skyrocketing, it’s a good time to shine a spotlight on how messed up that is. And I say this as someone who does eat some dairy and meat.
Thanks for your informative post! I rarely use milk of any kind, so I appreciate the opportunity to learn more about what’s behind the pricing.
Unfortunately, both cow milk and soy are so bad for the environment. Soy producers are devastating the rainforest. Soybean farming is causing widespread deforestation and displacement of small farmers and indigenous peoples around the globe. Particularly in Brazil and Argentina.
@ Honeybee, I don’t know where the soy _milk_ soybeans come from in the US. However in the Netherlands, the biggest name brand soy milk company’s product has soybeans sourced in the US (!), Canada, and Europe. The most popular organic brand here sources their beans entirely in Europe. Normally (as with coffee, chocolate, bananas, rice…) companies want to be seen as at least vaguely sustainable and environmentally friendly.
Cow’s milk IS more harmful as you stated. The reason being that farmers do not earn much on their milk, which causes them to have large herds of cows that in turn must (from the farmer trying to earn a living’s viewpoint) produce large amounts of milk per cow. To do so, a cow must have a high protein diet and she cannot be economically viable if she only eats her traditional grass diet. The cheapest soy beans come from, among others, rainforests and the indigenous places you mentioned.
The thing that most people don’t realize is that the majority of soy crops are actually used to feed livestock for meat and dairy consumption. If I recall correctly, less than 10% goes towards human consumption. If we were only growing soy for humans, it probably wouldn’t have as big of an environmental impact.
Hi! Just FYI, most of those soy beans that you mention actually go towards feeding cows for human consumption, which then drives deforestation and the climate crisis. Especially in those communities youve mentioned.
if they cost lest to produce why are they priced so much higher (I noted some average prices in a comment above)? This is an opportunity for the non-dairy manufacturers to compete if the dairy lobby isn’t colluding w/politicians to game the market
I usually make my own nut milk which makes it much less expensive than buying in store (and I can control the creaminess level depending how I plan to use it); if I need oat milk, I have to buy it in a store.
Plant milk yes, but nobody should be buying and drinking almond milk.
Although oat milk has way more calories I don’t think people are aware of how much water almond farming takes from the local populations. So I choose oat milk.
Yeah, I wonder how many people are affected by the drought versus how well all those almond crops are being fed. It’s infuriating.
I was a slow adopter of oat milk because I genuinely like soy milk (not almond) but maaaan am I hooked on creamy oat milk now. Going to have some with my tea right now.
I prefer Cashew milk but I can only find it at one of the local grocery stores – most stores have tons of almond milk brands & varieties as well as a lot of stock of oat milk
Unfortunately just about every coffee place uncharges for vegan milk. I am always surprised how much more my chai latte is when I ask for vegan milk. I appreciate that there are people out there like Cromwell who use their celebrity for good causes.
The only people he’s affecting and disrupting are those poor people that work at that particular store and are making minimum wage and have had to deal with all kinds of ridiculous stuff during the pandemic and normally because people are nuts. This is not affecting top management of Starbucks in the least.
He should have went to the headquarters building and glued himself down somewhere there.
And what is the deal with gluing yourself down in protest?
It might have an impact. In the languages I speak and read, Cromwell’s action made the news. This went worldwide in less than 24 hours, and in all of the countries, the action is generally being hailed as a good idea.
That’ll do, James. That’ll do.
Actually, I think there are better organizations to support than PETA in this, or any other issue. But then again, I guess getting Farmer Hoggett to superglue his hand to a counter is a good way of getting press so he’s done his job.
Doesn’t the dairy industry receive tons of federal subsidies? I think that’s more likely the reason for the price differences. I personally like both almond and oat milk, and I don’t consume any kind of dairy milk or ice creams.
they Geta boatload of subsidies and during COVID the government was actually paying dairy farmers to dump thousands of gallons (if not more)
Why are there price differences at Starbucks? I usually only go once a month or so, and always suck up the difference for almond milk when ordering a latte. But in checking prices online Walmart is selling 1/2 gallon Silk almond milk for $2.98 (4.7 cents / fl oz) versus 1/2 gallon Darigold 2% fat dairy milk for $3.60 (5.6 cents / fl oz). Doubt that supergluers’ crankiness will translate to my action. Have always put ~ 10% in Starbucks tip jar, might do more now.
Oookay, but what about carbon footprint that it takes for plant-based foods (eg: soy milk) to go from the field to the table? Not just water consumption, but the harvesting, cleaning, processing, travelling, as well as the machinery and fuel that go into all of that? What is the TOTAL footprint? How does it compare to dairy? Honest question! Trying to find sites with comparable info, but not coming up with anything except “it’s better for the environment because soy consumes less water that cows.” I’m trying to look at the whole picture.
Just guessing, but seems like the soybean taking a detour through a cow would have more impact.
Cow milk also has to be refrigerated all along the way.
About this: “I also feel bad for the Starbucks employees who had to deal with him and call the cops on an elderly man.”
Please stop with the gratuitous age comments. Unless there’s solid, reliable information to the contrary, he’s a capable, competent man acting on an issue that matters to him. His age has nothing to do with this any more than his race, gender, height, or any other such characteristic. It’s no more trouble, or less, to call the cops on someone whether they’re 25 or 85. Was it a hassle to any of the employees to have to deal with the situation? No doubt. And if I were one of those Starbucks employees, I’d have cheered him on for highlighting Starbucks’ greed.
My local Starbucks doesn’t charge me extra for coconut milk, which is what I usually get. I don’t go there often at all, maybe twice a month, but as far as I know I’ve never been charged extra. Maybe that’s just now changed?
Anyway, the action got attention so I guess it did the trick. I do feel badly for the employee who had to clean that, though.
Cow’s vs plant milks: technically just about any plant milk is ultimately cheaper and environmentally friendlier to produce than dairy. Cows require land. Hopefully the animals get to graze the land as opposed to being shut ik n factory stalls, but in any case everything they eat gets grown on the land and they eat more than humans. Cows produce methane and amonia/nitrogen. Their poop needs to be disposed of. The crops (grains and soybeans) that feed cows usually come from further away than the crops used for plant milks. However, nutritionally speaking, plant milks do not have the same profile. The cattle lobby in most countries worldwide is quite strong and most countries subsidize dairy farmers in some way. This makes cow’s milk appear cheaper to the consumer.
The soy grown in South America is genetically modified (it cannot be used in Europe), and almost all of it is used for the cattle industry (milk and meat).
When I decided to go off dairy, oat milk was my ticket. Love it! DunkIn also charges a dollar extra for plant based milks, even when you are redeeming a free one.