January 15, 2014

McDonald's collaborates with different organisations on 'sustainable beef'
 

As part of a US-led global strategy and to be able to address perceived community concerns on overgrazing, greenhouse gas emissions and climate change, fast food giant McDonald's will source "sustainable beef" within two years.
 

Australian industry leaders have been quick to allay concerns standards will be "too taxing" for beef producers and believe it will be part of a new expectation for suppliers.

In order to develop the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef in 2011, the Cattle Council of Australia collaborated with McDonald's, the World Wildlife Fund, Cargill, JBS, and other stakeholders.

The group's goal was to promote sustainability for the global beef value chain, ensuring it was "environmentally sound, socially responsible and economically viable". But the guidelines for sustainability are yet to be agreed on by the group.

Cattle Council president Andrew Ogilvie said Australian farmers already used sustainable practices and standards should not be too taxing.

McDonald's buys about 2% of the world's total beef and dairy industry output for its 34,000 stores in 118 countries. The company has promised to "listen, learn, and collaborate" with stakeholders from "farm to the front counter" to develop sustainable solutions.

McDonald's Australia's director of quality and sustainability, Tracey Monaghan, said many of its customers wanted to know where their food came from and were concerned about environment impacts.

A survey of US chefs predicted "environmental sustainability" would be among the hottest trends this year in food demand.