Why we chose...

Buy Nothing Day 2006, Montreal

Chartwells

Chartwells is the exclusive food service provider at Concordia University.  Their monopoly extends throughout both campuses and even to club spaces, dormitories and vending machines.  They have used this power to:

* Try and ban club's bake sales on campus

* Bring in more corporate influence by signing deals with Starbucks and Tim Hortons

* Force all students staying in residence to buy their Meal Plan

* Offer a menu with very little choice, low quality of ingredients and high prices, while giving students very little choice of where else to go.

Starbucks

Despite it's green and responsible corporate image, Starbucks' business practises include:

* Clusterbombing, or opening many unsubstainable stores in one area to drive smaller, locally run competitors out of business, using coffee beans produced under unfair labour conditions.

* Use of coffee beans produced under unfair, exploitative working conditions

* Buying milk from dairies that use cows injected with Monsanto's recombinant Bovine Growth Hormone (rBGH)

* Frivolous Lawsuits, such as the one against Haida First Nations, which Starbucks lost in court

* Filing a restraining order against theatre activist Bill Talen (aka Reverend Billy)

For more on Starbucks, please visit these links:

http://www.ibtimes.com/articles/20060925/starbucks-monopoly-lawsuit-sued-coffee.htm

http://knowmore.org/index.php/Starbucks_Corporation

http://www.nowtoronto.com/issues/2003-06-19/news_story6.php

Mikes

This was a spur-of-the-moment idea, brought on by their refusal to let one of our players refill his cup with water.  We haven't had the time to fully research them, but so far we know they're guilty of:

Refusal to give water (or even let a person refill their cup in the bathroom)

Assault (pushing and shoving)

We'll be looking closer at them.  If you have any info, please contact otl@optative.net