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What does that mean, exactly? If "sustainability" gives you images of a family farm sending their free-range chickens to a McDonald's supplier, think again. What it does mean is that McDonald's sat down with the World Wildlife Fund, and "other stakeholders" (including fellow corporate megaliths such as Walmart, as well as suppliers) and came up with five products to concentrate on making better: beef, poultry, coffee, palm oil, and food packaging. It is also joining various Global Roundtables (on beef, and responsible palm oil production).
See the details on McDonald's Sustainable Land Management Commitment, after the jump:
Beef: Develop a pilot program to trace and certify sustainable beef in the Amazon, and to investigate carbon emissions from farms in the UK.
Note: Previously the Amazon was off-limits because of major sustainability issues.
Poultry: No, it's not about creating new ways of raising chickens that make up those Chicken McNuggets. Or about instituting cage-free systems. It's about soy used for feed. McDonald's will continue a moratorium on soy produced in the Amazon, and that is destroying the rain forest.
Coffee: Seems McDonald's Europe is ahead of the U.S game on this front, buying coffee certified by the Rainforest Alliance. Now, the company turns to the U.S. and its supply chain to "assess a comprehensive approach."
Palm Oil: If you love McDonald's fried foods, you have an intimate knowledge of palm oil. And the burning and clear-cutting required to produce palm oil has created a host of environmental problems in places such as Indonesia. McDonald's says it will use only certified-sustainable palm oil by 2015.
Packaging: Wood fiber makes those nifty paper fry holders (and so much more at McDonald's). The goal is to use more certified sources of wood fiber. In Canada, 15% is now from certified sources. No stats are given for the U.S. Sound familiar?
Sounds like a decent plan, and who can help but applaud McDonald's' attempts to make their operations more environmentally friendly. But here's what consumers also need to know. Among the giant suppliers of McDonald's palm oil and soy for the poultry feed is Cargill, which has been slammed by organizations such as the Rainforest Action Network for its violations of environmental practices, such as clear-cutting and destruction of watersheds.
Let's be honest: You want a burger and fries produced "sustainably"? Then go to the farmers market, buy beef and potatoes produced by farmers you know support best practices. Burgers produced from meat supplied by industrial farms, or chicken sandwiches produced from mega poultry operations are never going to be the most sustainable choice. In fact, the most sustainable choice is probably not to eat beef or chicken at all. But in the meantime, the language of corporate sustainability and responsibility is a step in the right direction, and makes consumers feel a little better as they take a bite of their Big Mac.
- Read about how Subway passed McDonald's to become the country's largest fast-food chain at The Huffington Post.
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3-14-2011 @2:09PM hamerxham12653 said... Actually, after reading the artcle it sounds like just another bit of "tokenism" by a giant corporation. Nothing to really get excited about and frankly, typical big business tactics.
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3-14-2011 @2:27PM Blain said... Do you really want us to believe anything the Huffington Post prints?
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3-15-2011 @12:32AM Paul said... Right. Like I'm gonna go to a farmers market and pay twice (or more) the price for beef (actually never seen beef for sale at a farmers market) and potatoes to make my burgers and fries. The two previous comments show a lack of understanding of the problems faced by large corporations. hammerx is not satisfied with the degree to which McD's is changing practices. This fails to take into account that McD's is in business to make money (as are ALL business - even not for profits) and is responsible to the corporate shareholders to not pauperize them. Radical changes just are not feasable. A smaller change such as those reported in the article are much more responsile to everyone involved. Extremist environmentalists don't seem to have the cranium capacity to understand this. zguo's comment to not eat beef or chicken is simply ridiculous. I have cannine teeth for a reason! My digestive system is that of an omnivore not an herbivore. Unlike vegitarians and (ugh!) vegans, I don't have all day to stuff myself with the required amount of low nutrition fiber required to maintain a healthy weight and busy lifestyle. So that glass of milk and butter on my bread will continue to appear on my table along side the chicken wings and filet mingon.
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3-15-2011 @3:19PM Monique said... So you are ok with these large corporations fouling the planet while making tons of money for their executives and rich stockholders? The rest of us average folks don't ever see the profits, only the bad food they sell, and worse, if we are so unlucky, to live where it smells because of the industrial cow farm, where the top soil is gone and there is no fresh produce at all because all that is grown is corn #2 or soybeans, or where forests are cut down to plant palm oil trees. I suppose if one ate a steady diet of junk food like McDonald's then one may not feel well enough or live long enough to care.
This is an example of how a large corporation pretends to be doing the sustainable thing. It might be better if they were honest and just said, look, invest in us and you'll make tons of money while helping ruin where people live, and we'll give you processed food, flavored with tons of chemicals so it tastes "good" while messing with your health, but at least its cheap and you won't feel hungry for at least another hour.
3-14-2011 @2:54PM TomW said... Thats just so much happy talk for the current green fad. Unfortunately it is a fad. The true greenies were hijacked by "pop" green phonies and this whole McDonald's thing is just so much advertising for that mindset. It would be a a lot better if McDonald's would buy beef and other materials from US Manufacturers where such "sustainability" (what a buzzword) could be monitored. After reading along, it seems as though they are still going to loot the Amazon basin but the pop greenies will feel good cuz McD says they won't do it so much. Buy beef from the Midwest, make it healthy and make it local. Thats sustainable. Telling us that they are going to have higher standards for cutting down the rain forest is so silly. Iowa doesn't have any rain forests, but they do have beef. McD's is part of the US economy problem, low wages, no benefits and buys everything outside the US. After reading this baloney I am more inclinded to boycott McD (but then there is really no actual food there anyhow, just beef past and chicken parts).
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3-14-2011 @3:38PM dickn2000b said... YAWN!!! And a big ho-hum. McDonald"s, in recent weeks, seems to be committing corporate suicide. First, the issued a news report stating that they would be catering to a more mature, upper class clientele by cutting back on happy meals and serving more designer coffee. Now this! Nobody cares about "sustainability." McDonald's built its reputation, its business and its customer base by selling what it's good at: hamburgers, fries, and happy meals. McDonald's is NOT Starbuck's, or Greenpeace - Save The Whales. I predict that McDonald's corporate will very soon regret these decisions when profit margins plummet.
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3-14-2011 @4:17PM M.A. Korman said... This sounds like more yuppie silliness.
Who cares about this nonsense,you either like McDonald's food or not. No one is forced to eat there.
I personally don't have the time or interest to give so much attention to the contents of my food or where it came from. These people need to get lives and find something pleasant and interesting to thing about.
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3-14-2011 @8:02PM Taylor Cooper said... If you do not care and do not have the time then don't comment. It is sad to me that you do not take an intrest in what you eat. When you fall ill to a food poison we wont take interest in you either.
3-14-2011 @8:02PM Taylor Cooper said... If you do not care and do not have the time then don't comment. It is sad to me that you do not take an intrest in what you eat. When you fall ill to a food poison we wont take interest in you either.
3-14-2011 @4:30PM 69usmc73 said... Need to learn and speak ENGLISH...
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3-14-2011 @7:48PM Tammy Ashley said... MacDonalds should just stick to what they do best, making fast food and selling it cheaply. If they are trying to sound impressive it isn't working. Eating at MacDonalds is a choice. Just go with that and be done with it.
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3-14-2011 @5:08PM John said... I care not one whit about "sustainability" or any of the rest of this nonsense that's desgined to placate the greenies and the yuppies who are desperate to get noticed while they "save the world".
What matters is satisfying the customer's expectation for good food at a reasonable price, prepared and served consistently; that's where the focus should be, not on this other stuff the customer could care less about, which will just drive up fixed costs.
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3-15-2011 @8:20AM Wanda said... You know people really need to get their heads out of there wazoo and leave things alone. It's the same with everything else if you don't want it, don't buy it, eat it, watch it or listen to it. Leave things alone. There is much more in this world to worry about.
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3-14-2011 @5:50PM Ron said... This sounds like a politically correct excuse for McDonalds to raise its prices. I question whether the corporate gurus are concerned about sustaining anything other than their profit margin.
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3-14-2011 @5:50PM Ron said... This sounds like a politically correct excuse for McDonalds to raise its prices. I question whether the corporate gurus are concerned about sustaining anything other than their profit margin.
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3-14-2011 @5:53PM RSchell1223 said... Wow, I feel honored. They liked my comment so much it was posted twice :)
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3-14-2011 @5:53PM RSchell1223 said... Wow, I feel honored. They liked my comment so much it was posted twice :)
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3-14-2011 @6:27PM Katie said... I agree with TomW, if McDonald's really wants to promote sustainability and, "accept the responsibility that comes with our global presence," try finding sources here at home to partner with. Not only would it look good with the 'were really trying to be a responsible conglomerate' face they are trying to put on, but it would be good for the economy of this country. Agriculture in this country is failing because of companies like McDonalds. They would rather strip the Amazon of its resources than find a farmer here who can produce their products. Its sad really, it would benefit them in the long run because it would boost the economy and in turn boost sales, but big business is always looking away from home.
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3-14-2011 @6:04PM Arianne said... Big Food Industries esp Fast food..stinks! they dont care about whether people will die or get sick after eating their products as long as they earn more...not inc the fact that they're taking advantage of the small farmers too...
it's time to change, people should support 100% natural products..before it's too late...
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3-14-2011 @7:09PM OLDMAN JONES said... where the meat and potatoes come from is one thing. lets get to something i see important. palm oil, this is one ingredient i have to stay away from. maybe the different supplies make the differents. however this a champion on the goute. some people are allergic to soy. wow that doesn't leave much to cook with does it. let's go back to corn oil and hog fat now there's the flavor of oldtimes.
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