McDonald’s and Sustainable Beef

McDonald’s fast food restaurants shook up the meat industry worldwide in January when it announced plans to begin purchasing ‘sustainable beef’ in 2016. By its own estimates, 公司采购几乎 2 percent of the annual global beef supply. It has not set a quantity target for 2016, but plans to develop a percentage target for 2020. McDonald’s already has sustainable criteria of other products and plans to next focus on poultry, 12 percent of the company’s carbon footprint, 在 12 至 18 个月.

The company first needs a definition of sustainable beef. McDonald’s plans to use the definition established by the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB); it is a founding member. Other members include Walmart, 处理器像嘉吉和JBS, 牛生产者群体包括中美. National Cattlemen’s Beef Association (NCBA), Canadian Cattlemen’s Association and Cattle Council of Australia, and NGOs like World Wildlife Fund and National Wildlife Federation. The President is Cameron Bruett, 企业事务部负责人JBS USA, the world’s largest beef processor. The GRSB aim is to facilitate a global dialogue to advance continuous improvement in the sustainability of the global beef value chain.

群组, 在形成 2012, 已确定的可持续发展的五个原则: 自然资源, 群众和社会各界, 动物健康 & 福利, 食品安全和质量, and efficiency and innovation. A list of criteria and intent has been developed for each principle. These principles are tied together by a triple bottom line of social responsible, economically viable and environmentally sound. A draft version was available on their website for public comment and review from mid-March to mid-May. Their current summary definition is “We define sustainable beef as a socially responsible, 无害环境和经济上可行的产品，优先星球, 人, animals and progress.” 圆桌会议成员将在最终版本今年晚些时候投票.

According to a three-part series on McDonald’s quest for sustainable beef by Joel Makower on GreenBiz.com in January, McDonald’s has a history of working with non-profits and consultants on public policy issues that impact the company. 在 1989, 鲍勃Langert, now McDonald’s vice president, 全球可持续发展, 开始与美国环保协会合作，寻找固体废物管理解决方案, a major headache for McDonald’s at that time. That effort resulted in waste-reductions in the 1990s that saved about 300 万磅的包装, 无需额外投资.

在GreenBiz.com系列, Langert’s boss, J.C.. 冈萨雷斯 - 门德斯, 全球企业社会责任的高级副总裁, 可持续性和慈善事业, 描述的大视野: “We aspire to source all of our food and packaging from sustainable sources, 验证来源上，他们对待动物的方式可持续性, 在路上，他们待人, as well as the planet.” A cursory review of the McDonald’s website shows the sustainability goal, 无论如何定义, is widely accepted and being put in place. It is not going away. McDonald’s is currently buying fish that is certified sustainable and committed by 2020 至 100 ％的可持续棕榈油, 100 percent sustainable coffee and 100 在包装％的可持续纤维，其是可回收的或可堆肥的.

On what prompted McDonald’s to set the 2016 目标牛肉, 弗朗西斯DeBiasca, 副总统, 战略采购和可持续发展, 全球供应链管理, 告诉 Meatingplace 杂志, “When we talk to our customers they are telling us, ‘We want to eat more beef. We like beef. But we also want to feel good about what we are eating.’” Asked about the biggest misconception of this decision, she said it is that McDonald’s is going to dictate or mandate some definition and tell producers what to do. McDonald’s brings the customer’s voice to the table because they have 70 million customers per day. According to McDonald’s website, 70 percent of the company’s total greenhouse gas emissions come from its supply chain and around 40 那％来自牛肉.

Bruett, 该GRSB总统, 告诉 Meatingplace that sustainability issues will vary by country. 例如, 巴西焦点将可能是亚马逊毁林, 而在中美. 重点将是对饲养场和水的使用, water quality and nutrient management. 澳大利亚, Canada and Europe are further along in traceability of beef than the U.S. 通过 2016, 100 percent of Ireland’s agricultural exports will come from farms that have joined the country’s voluntary sustainability program. While some people in the U.S. 牛肉产业期待支付提供可追溯性, companies like McDonald’s increasingly see it in the long run as a normal part of doing business.

哈尔汉密尔顿, 可持续食品实验室的联合创始人, which is working with McDonald’s, 沃尔玛（Walmart）, NCBA及其他, 告诉 Meatingplace, “In the end, everyone’s customers will want some assurances that there is not a risk in their supply chain from environmental or social problems.”

Where sustainability goes in the marketplace will be determined by consumers’ assurances about feeling good about the eating experience and supply chain assurances of avoiding problems. GRSB’s intent to not set standards or to create a certification program, but to provide a common baseline understanding of sustainable beef that national roundtables and other initiatives can use to meet their needs that will help in matching sustainability principles with local production realities. The underlying criteria and indicators will need to reflect real differences in production systems.

有努力，以确定可持续发展的许多产品, 但有可能是没有已在中美与消费者更多的连接. and around the world than McDonald’s. They have to do it on a worldwide scale and at a cost that allows it to remain competitive in the mass market of fast food restaurants.

罗斯Korves是贸易和经济政策分析师真相关于贸易 &技术 (www.truthabouttrade.org). 跟着我们: @TruthAboutTrade上 推特 |真相关于贸易 & 科技上 Facebook的.