McDonald’s has made an announcement that has gotten the attention of the fast food industry. It is making a commitment to source its food from more sustainable sources.
Press Release – OAK BROOK, IL – McDonald’s Corporation today announced its Sustainable Land Management Commitment (SLMC), a significant advancement in the company’s effort to ensure the food served in its restaurants around the world is sourced from certified sustainable sources. The McDonald’s SLMC requires that, over time, its suppliers will only use agricultural raw materials for the company’s food and packaging that originate from sustainably-managed land. This commitment is guided by a long-term vision and supported by an external, third-party annual evaluation process.
“McDonald’s serves customers around the world, and we accept the responsibility that comes with our global presence,” said McDonald’s Chief Executive Officer Jim Skinner. “We will continue to focus our energy on developing sustainable sourcing practices and broadening our menu choices. Each year, we set goals that challenge us to put our resources toward strengthening communities and helping maintain a world that can carry all of us well into the future.”
McDonald’s actions initially will be focused on five raw material priorities – Beef, Poultry, Coffee, Palm Oil and Packaging. Based on a thorough analysis conducted in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), the five raw materials which are the initial focus of the SLMC were identified as having the most potential sustainability impacts.
As part of the SLMC, McDonald’s:
- is working with a multi-stakeholder group, the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef, and select Regional Roundtables, to improve the sustainability of beef production;
- has sponsored and is piloting a three-year beef farm study – the largest of its kind – to investigate the carbon emissions on 350 beef farms across the UK and Ireland;
- is joining the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO) this year and has committed to source only RSPO-certified Palm Oil by 2015;
- has joined the Sustainability Consortium—an independent organization dedicated to implementing measureable progress based on life-cycle science
“We know that our customers care about where their food comes from,” said Francesca DeBiase, McDonald’s vice president for Strategic Sourcing. “McDonald’s and our suppliers have taken many positive steps in the past 20 years to improve the sustainability of our supply chain, and now we’re reaching even higher with our vision for sourcing all of our food and packaging from certified sustainable sources.”
McDonald’s details its SLMC progress in a special report available at:
http://www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/csr/about/sustainable_supply/sustainable_land_management_commitment.html
The Sustainable Land Management Commitment was announced in conjunction with the release of McDonald’s 2010 Worldwide Corporate Responsibility (CR) Report, accessed at www.aboutmcdonalds.com/mcd/csr/report.html.
In the latest web-based corporate responsibility report, themed “What We’re Made Of,” McDonald’s demonstrates measurable gains in the areas of sustainable supply chain, nutrition and well-being, environmental responsibility, employment experience, community, and corporate governance and ethics.
- Nutrition and Well-Being – Servings of fruits and vegetables offered continues to increase; additional menu items added, including oatmeal in the U.S., to offer more choice and variety
- Environmental Responsibility – Through several global energy efficiency efforts, the reported kilowatt hours per transaction count decreased
- Employment Experience –McDonald’s continues its diversity leadership. More than 26 percent of women comprise the top management team, and 49 percent of all restaurant managers are women
- Community– Since 2002, McDonald’s and its customers around the world have raised $170 million during the annual McHappy Day fundraiser to support Ronald McDonald House Charities and other children’s causes
Source: McDonalds
Commentary from The Independent:
McDonald’s has announced an ambitious sustainability program that will re-examine where its food comes from. Last week’s announcement came wrapped in a slew of corporate promises, including the pledge to make sure that the food in the company’s restaurants comes from sustainable sources. The Sustainable Land Management Commitment, or SLMC, will require that suppliers use agricultural raw materials – unprocessed or minimally processed materials from nature – that originate from sustainably managed lands.
The core of the plan will focus on five priority areas as identified in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund: beef, poultry, coffee, palm oil and packaging. A big part of the project includes the banning of beef sourced from slaughterhouses within the Amazon Biome. To green chicken supplies, the company also imposed a series of moratoriums on all soya feed purchased from deforested areas of the Amazon. Soya is the major component of chicken feed.
Coffee and wood fibers for product packaging will also be sourced from third-party certified, sustainable sources. Meanwhile, palm oil – which is used as the frying oil in restaurants – will also be revisited, as rising demand in palm tree plantations have resulted in the clear-cutting of native, tropical forests. The company pledged to switch to certified sustainable palm oil by 2015.
Commentary from the SlashFood.com.
Sustainability has become the go-to word for every corporation in the U.S.andMcDonald’s is no exception. The burger giant recently announced what it’s calling its Sustainable Land Management Commitment (SLMC). In a press release that sounds a bit like a “Spider-Man” script, the company states that “McDonald’s … accept[s] the responsibility that comes with our global presence,” by requiring that over a period of time, all agricultural raw materials will be supplied only from sustainably managed land. (McDonald’s also admits that since it “does not actually produce any of the food we ultimately serve our customers, it’s essential that we work with suppliers who share our values.”)
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.
