SOCIAL ENTREPRENEURSHIP = DOING WELL AND DOING GOOD

Milton Friedman, Nobel Laureate in Economics, once said, "the business of business is business." This famous quote gets to the heart of his argument that businesses exist to maximize the wealth of their owners and for no other reason.

Today, there is a growing group of entrepreneurs who disagree with Friedman's ideas regarding the role and purpose of a business. Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) has entered the lexicon, as has social entrepreneurship. Both focus on a business doing well for owners, but also doing good for society.

If you are interested in social entrepreneurship, starting and running a business for personal gain and profit while also having the business play a role in the betterment of society, you should spend a few minutes reading this article:

A Capitalist Jolt for Charity by Steve Lohr in The New York Times

Mr. Lohr takes a closer look at ePals, a for-profit business that seeks not only profit, but to also play a role in improving education around the globe.

STARBUCKS DROPPING GROWTH HORMONE MILK

Responding to criticism from consumer groups concerned about the lack of testing and data regarding rBGH, a growth hormone given to some dairy cows to increase milk production, Starbucks has pulled growth hormone milk products from many of its stores and is expected to go companywide when new milk sources can be found. Earlier this month Starbucks announced it would quit selling food containing trans fats at half of the company's U.S. outlets. Starbucks has a long history of responding to consumer requests and is known as a leader in corporate social responsibility.

From USA Today:

Starbucks Coffee is ending its use of milk products that contain an artificial growth hormone, starting in much of the West and New England. Less than a month after announcing that the chain would stop selling items with trans fats in half its U.S. stores, Starbucks said Tuesday it had begun buying only milk products without bovine growth hormone in those areas. Starbucks has not raised prices and is working with suppliers on the cost of milk, half and half, whipping cream and eggnog, spokeswoman Sanja Gould told the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. Starbucks has 5,668 stores in the United States, but the number affected by the change was not immediately available. It covers company-owned Starbucks outlets in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Alaska, Montana, Northern California and New England. Earlier this month Starbucks announced plans to stop selling food containing trans fats at half the company's U.S. outlets. The move comes after Starbucks was targeted in a campaign by consumer groups critical of the use of an artificial hormone known as rBGH, which is given as a supplement to dairy cows to increase milk production. For more than a decade, some advocacy groups have asserted that there has not been enough research on the effects in humans of milk products from cows that were given the hormone, which is administered to dairy cattle during the middle phase of lactation to boost milk production. "We are actively engaged with all our dairy suppliers to explore converting our core dairy products to be rBGH-free in our U.S. company-owned stores," Starbucks spokesman Brandon Borrman told Reuters. "It is something we're aiming for."