I love coffee

There are many things that give me satisfaction in life, but none more so than my daily cup of coffee. There are starting to be more coffee shops that have soy milk as an option, but here in Boston, if you want a good vegan coffee you have to do a mom and pop shop or Starbucks.

Starbucks poses a moral dilemma for me. Part of my loves my venti soy capp with an extra shot of expresso. No better way to start my day. By Starbucks is bad. Only 1.6 percent of Starbucks coffee is fair-trade certified. According to Global Exchange, only 20 percent of fair trade coffee is sold at fair trade prices the rest is sold at the market price.

That means that with corporate giants like Kraft, the market price often comes in below the production costs for many farmers. BUT if market giants like Starbucks and Dunkin Donuts were to throw their weight around , this issue could virtually disappear.  Hear that Starbucks, it's time to step up!

Another thing about Starbucks that drives me absolutely crazy is their cups. Did you know that Starbucks's cups are not recyclable? How crazy is that? Starbucks makes two arguments about this: 1) they are not willing to substitute quality of the cups and 2) the current cups only produce 10% consumer waste. My response: 10% of 2 billion cups per year is still alot going into our landfills. Just sayin.

Enter the Starbucks ceramic cup:

I love this cup.  I use it when I make coffee at home and when I go to Starbucks.  It keeps my coffee hot and is good for the environment and at prices from $10.95-$15.95 it is an affordable solution for enjoying the coffee I love without the guilt of using a non-recyclable cup

Starbucks isn't all bad either. Starbucks now offers vegan friendly frappuccinos and vegan cookies. Vegan frappuccinos were introduced this past May and they are delicious. Starbucks also sells Lucy's Cookies which are a great vegan option. Also, the Starbucks by my work had a vegan happy hour around the time they began offering vegan frappuccinos.  That was awesome. There are not a ton of vegan options here in Boston, so it is always nice to be able to grab Starbucks where I have options and not be "that girl who doesn't eat anything" with the folks at work.

While I have a love/hate relationship with Starbucks, I try to stick to my local coffee place as often as possible. Boston Common Coffee is fantastic. With tons of vegan drink options and great food with vegan choices, this place wins my heart. I can often be found here on a Sunday morning with my coffee and a bagel with hummus. That's right, all their bagels are vegan friendly (except the egg bagel).  There are two locations in Boston (North End and Downtown Crossing) and owner Pete can often be found behind the counter of the North End shop. Check them out, you won't be sorry.

http://www.bostoncommoncoffee.com/