Starbucks at Yosemite Draws Protest

What’s wrong with bringing Starbucks brew to Yosemite National Park? A lot, according to the 3,500 people who have signed a Change.org petition protesting plans to add the corporation’s coffee to the food court at Yosemite Valley Lodge this spring. The anti-Starbucks crowd has argued that multinational corporations don’t belong in national parks and say the coffee giant will detract from the “essence” of Yosemite.

“If this is approved I am concerned that it could lead to a grocery store sponsored by Walmart or a Mountain Shop that will turn into a satellite REI,” Freddie Brewster, a local resident, told the Fresno Bee. “This could start a trend that has already seen the introduction of corporate sponsors like Budweiser, REI, and Subaru for the NPS.”

Aramark, the park’s concessionaire, says that the new store will use existing space, and won’t be a standalone structure.