Paul McCartney And PETA Target Coffee Chain

Former Beatles band member Paul McCartney is teaming up with the animal rights organization PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) in an effort to stop a national coffee chain from charging customers more for plant-based milk.

The recording artist wrote an open letter to Eric Lauterbach, president and CEO of Peet’s Coffee, asking that the company remove an 80 cent surcharge for non-dairy milk.

“It recently came to my attention that Peet’s has an extra charge for plant-based milks as opposed to cow’s milk. I must say this surprised me as I understand that your company is committed to reducing methane emissions and water waste, yet cow’s milk significantly contributes to them,” McCartney wrote, per the San Francisco Chronicle. “I would like to politely request that you consider dropping the upcharge on plant milks, just as Starbucks and Dunkin’ have recently done.”

The coffee chain is headquartered in Emeryville, California, a Bay Area city between Oakland and Berkeley, where PETA is organizing a demonstration later this month. 

“Peet’s punitive price hike on vegan milks leaves a bad taste in the mouth of anyone who cares about animals or the environment,” PETA Executive Vice President Tracy Reiman said in a statement. “PETA is calling on the public to join the push for Peet’s to brew up compassion and stop charging extra for kind and climate-friendly choices.”

McCartney is a well-known environmental activist with a penchant for left-wing causes. According to PETA, Paul and his late wife, Linda McCartney, went vegetarian in 1975 after watching lambs play outside their window while they were eating lamb chops. 

In the past, the singer has said, “It’s actually a huge fallacy,” that the best protein sources are meat. “You can get your protein from a million other non-animal places, and it’s much better for you,” McCartney said during an interview with PETA.