"So, are you going to keep buying coffee from Starbucks?"

Randy asked me this tonight, and I didn't want him to.

I like Starbucks coffee, I really do. I like how it makes me feel. I like the friendly employees, the season appropriate music for sale, and the murky warmth of extra bold Sumatra or Espresso roast. It has been a habit for years now, and I really like it.

But I've recently been accepting the truth that Starbucks isn't GOOD. I mean sure the company is capable of doing good things, employing people, offering benefits, donating money to third would countries, and providing wireless Internet. I could find GOOD in Starbucks. But the thing is that all of this GOOD, I suspect, is merely an attempt to cover up the EeeVIL. How do the coffee farmers live? What are the workers paid? How are the workers treated? Can these people support their families on $2 a day? Can the local coffee shop owner survive the stiff competition down the street? Does Starbucks crush their competition and provide little to no relief to the impoverished workers collecting their beans?

And what GOOD am I doing, when I buy my comforting grande Christmas Blend with room for cream, served with a smile, and a pop/folk Bob Dylan cover song?

So here is the question: Is Starbucks Evil?

Sadly, I've decided to seriously limit my purchase of Starbucks coffee. And if it weren't for that fact that I know how desperate I will become on a road trip one day in the future, when I'll have to chose between a 7-11 and a Starbucks, I would proclaim now that my Starbucks days are completely over.

So I'll do the best I can at the moment. I'll stop giving Starbucks my money, and I'll commit to brewing Fair Trade at home or to buying at the local shop and roaster. But if I do find myself on a road trip in the future, desperate for coffee, I probably won't beat myself up for giving in to the EeeVIL coffee gods!