Thought You Should See This

February 13, 2012

"When, in 1999, McDonald’s requested that its suppliers give caged hens 72 square inches of space instead of 48… not a single factory-farmed hen in the country was being raised with 72 inches of space. Yet the entire supply chain was converted in just 18 months, and 72 square inches is now effectively the industry standard."

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In OMG: McDonald’s Does The Right Thing, food writer Mark Bittman details plans from the fast food restaurant giant to have its pork suppliers provide plans to phase out pig gestation crates by May. Yes, that wording is a little hinky: they won’t “phase out” by May, but have to “plan to” phase out by May. This means, Bittman reckons, that the changes won’t actually take effect until 2017, but it does show just how powerful corporations are these days. Bittman’s conclusion:

McDonald’s is among the most important food companies in the world, and one could argue that it and Walmart are the true pace-setters: what they do, others will do. When McDonald’s bans gestation crates, gestation crates will go bye-bye. If McDonald’s were to have a hit with a spot-on non-meat offering, you’d see something similar, lickety-split, at Burger King. If McDonald’s announced it was using organic milk for its coffee (as it does in Britain) or cage-free eggs for McMuffins (also a British practice), you’d see that happening everywhere. If McDonald’s were to pay its workers a dollar more than minimum wage, minimum wage in the restaurant industry would effectively go up.

When McDonald’s does the right thing, it’s a game-changer.

Any chance they might be able to actually phase out barbaric gestation cages before 2017? That’d be some pace setting.

5:45pm | URL: http://tmblr.co/ZLv7dxGNPWsx
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(Notes: 8)