Questions answered
There are 25 questions about “Quality Scouts” in the “How do you operate?” topic.
Click on a question to read our answer.
- 1. take me to one of your so called farms so i can see for myself what you really put into your food
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You might be interested to hear about our Quality Scout programme - Quality Scouts are members of the general public from around the UK who are curious about McDonald's business and its food. They're not paid, and have no ties to the company. They take a thorough look behind the scenes at various aspects of McDonald's and report back exactly what they see and hear. Just click on the 'Quality Scout' link on this site to find out more.
At the moment McDonald’s are not recruiting any new Quality Scouts, but this is an ongoing programme so please keep checking back for updates at the Make Up Your Own Mind site, at which time McDonald’s would welcome your application.
(September 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 2. how much money have you payed people to protest for your burgers being out of beef?you liers, arent you ashamed of yourselves at all?
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McDonald’s apologises for the delay in answering your question. As the site went through some technical updates and changes, some of the questions slipped through. However, everything is functioning better and your question has now been answered – Thank you for you patience. It sounds like you are referring to the Quality Scouts. Quality Scouts are members of the general public from around the UK who are curious about McDonald's business. They are not paid, and have no ties to the company. All they do is take an honest behind-the-scenes look at McDonald's and report back exactly what they see and hear. You can even suggest your own question for the Scouts to ask on future visits through this site. Just click on the 'Ask them a Question' link and you will be taken to a question form. Fill it out with whatever you would like the Scout to ask a supplier or McDonald's employee while they are on a visit.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 3. do you think it would be a good idea to have days out to see mcdonalds cows killed and turned into burgers like wot that hugh furry whittingstall does on the telly. hes proper good and you could show people that its good meat that you use and not rubbish like wot he says. i do not want any money for my idea but i would like to be on the first trip.
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Sincere apologies from the team for the late reply to your question.
Thank you for your suggestion and apologies for the late reply. McDonald's already has its own scheme (launched in 2006) that does exactly what you were enquiring about. Quality Scouts are members of the general public from around the UK who are curious about McDonald's business. They are not paid, and have no ties to the company. The Scouts take an in-depth look behind the scenes at the farms that supply McDonald’s with its patties, the abattoirs, suppliers and the restaurants themselves – in fact the whole chain from field to fork, and they will tell you exactly what they see, hear and ask. You can see it all for yourself on this very site. Just click on the 'Quality Scout' link and it will take you to the reports, interviews and video of the different scouts and their visits. If you like what you see you may want to become a scout yourself? Click on the ‘Become a Scout’ link for further details.
(September 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 4. Hi, I have recently applied to be a quality scout, for McDonalds. Having filled in all the details, I now read that you have to be a parent. I wondered why this is? Adults are equally needy of information and consumer quality and choice. The application does ask how many children you have and includes the number 0. Aidan Williams
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Thanks so much for taking the time to fill in the application. The areas of the business to be investigated are prioritised according to the level of questions asked about each area for purely logistical reasons: A lot of the questions that come through to the site pertain to the Happy Meal specifically and, therefore, it was important that McDonald's responded by inviting people to visit and report back on aspects of this specific topic. To that end, it was felt sensible to assume that parents would have a more vested interest in this than others. However, this is just one of the areas that the company will be asking people to investigate over the coming months, so please rest assured that your application and the particular areas of interest that you stated on the form will be considered in the future.
(November 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 5. I picked up one of your promotional cards in my local McDonalds. On the back of it is says to visit this website to find out what's in your food etc... it also so says you may even decide to apply to become a quality scout. So why does it say on your website you have to be a parent with children aged bewteen 5 and 9 years old and it's to see what's behind happy meals? A little unfair i think!
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Quality Scouts are members of the general public from around the UK who are curious about McDonald's business. They are not paid, and have no ties to the company. All they do is take an honest, behind the scenes look at McDonald's and report back. The company currently has a specific 'quest' for an interested parent to go behind the scenes of the Happy Meal and so the recruitment page is targeted at this group. However, in the past people of all different ages and demographics have been scouts (as you can see from the profile page), and in the future the chance to become a Quality Scout will be open to all. McDonald's has plans to invite scouts to research and review all areas of its business, so you are most welcome to submit an application if you are interested. Recently scouts have been on visits to some of the farms and suppliers that supply meat and poultry to the company, and have seen the preparation of the burgers and chicken food items. You can read and hear all their findings in the 'Quality Scout' section of this site. Looking forward to receiving your application.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 6. Why is it that, on the Quality Scout application page, the dropdown menu for Mr/Mrs/Miss (Ms - surely?) is positioned at Mrs. Later, there is the question 'are you a mum?' when there is also the question 'how many children do you have'. For, it is quite clear that you are aiming at 'Mums' and consequently at their children. Your not doing yourselves any favours with this over-zealous, stereotypical and somewhat evangelical campaign. I await a stock reply.
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Thank you for your question and we are pleased you may be interested in applying to be a Scout.
There is nothing over-zealous about the Quality Scouts, in fact it is a simple idea. The aim of the Quality Scout Programme is to bridge the perception gap that the consumer has between the facts and myths regarding McDonald's. Depending on the area of the business, the belief is that the Scout's profile should ideally represent those consumers who have the most interest in that topic - the Scout is then more likely to dig into what those consumers would like to know about, and report back in a way that they can identify with. Hence a mother, Charlotte, went to visit the McNuggets supplier, because she had an active interest in the quality of the food her daughter likes. The Make Up Your Own Mind Team have received a number of questions from parents and over half the visitors to this site are in fact mothers and fathers.
Having said that, Jane, our Scout for a Welsh farm visit had a background in Welsh local food sourcing - while Kym, visiting various locations, has a Health and Safety background. In 2008 we may also recruit from food professional backgrounds (butchers, etc.) as well as the general public. At the moment, our recruitment form refers to a McNuggets visit but we will be updating this in the near future and are pleased to receive any applications in the meantime, both from parents and people without children.
(November 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 7. how do you become a scout? I would love to be one in North Wales or Cheshire
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Thanks for your interest and apologies for taking so long to get back to you. If you'd like to become a Quality Scout, please go to the 'Become a Scout' link on this website and complete the form. (September 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 8. Can I be a quality scout?
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Of course. Visit the 'Become a Scout' link on this website for an online application form as well as more info on the Scouts programme. (May 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 9. Hi, I was just wondering what is involved in the 'Quality Scout' campaign you're running at the moment. I am interested in getting invovled, and would just like to know where the 'scouts' would visit in the UK, how long would this duty be for, what would be invovled during the trips and travel/organisation arrangments. Thanks alot.
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Unfortunately, if you have not already applied, applications for the Quality Scouts programme for this year have now closed. If you’d like to follow their progress or ask them a question, please go to the Quality Scouts section on the website or register for email updates.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 10. Your scout's Cambridgeshire visit sounds impressive and the cows well kept with good feed and no additives. Can I ask why you can't label your beef as organic if this is the case?
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All the farmers that rear beef cattle for McDonald's only feed their animals a vegetarian diet (grass, cereal, grain, root etc). The Cambridgeshire farm, like other farms, may sometimes add natural minerals to the feed because of a deficiency in the cattle’s diet, in the same way you would for humans. However, the farm in Cambridgeshire doesn’t have organic status and, therefore, McDonald's are unable to use the organic label. To become an organic farm requires an extensive conversion of the whole farm system following very strict regulations and standards which take at least two years. At the moment there are only a small number of farms that have organic status. McDonald's sponsors a farm in Oxford which is in the process of gaining organic status and the company is using this research to encourage other farmers to adapt their systems.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 11. Who are the Quality Scouts? Are they McDonalds employees or an independent board? If they are employed by McDonalds, then they are surely biased?
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The Quality Scouts are members of the public who've volunteered to visit McDonald's farms and suppliers to see first-hand how food is produced. The Make Up Your Own Mind website posts their photo diaries and reports, and you can ask the Scouts to investigate the things that matter to you.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 12. Is there any kind of video we can get to show the manufacturing of the burgers? From cow to burger, the whole process? Or is there some McDonalds headquarters we could visit to get a tour?
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The Quality Scouts are at various stages of the process currently and the aim is to provide just the film you describe: from the farm through the production process to the restaurant. If you are interested in becoming a Quality Scout yourself, please click on the 'Become a Scout' link and complete the form. (June 2007)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 13. I have already asked but received no reply. How do you select your independent scouts?
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McDonald's ran a national recruitment campaign asking for those interested in finding out more about what goes on behind the scenes at McDonald’s to fill in an online application form. The only criteria was that Quality Scouts must have a genuine interest in the McDonald's supply chain, and also had the free time to commit to the visits. They do not get paid for the time they take visiting the suppliers and writing their reports.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 14. How did you select your Scouts to make them independent?
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McDonald's ran a national recruitment campaign asking for those interested in finding out more about what goes on behind the scenes at McDonald's to fill in an online application form. The only criteria were that the chosen Quality Scouts had a genuine interest in looking at McDonald's supply chain and had the free time to commit to the visits. They do not get paid for the time they take visiting the suppliers and writing their reports.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 15. Who are your Quality Scouts? Customer services told me they are members of staff. It would be much better to use members of the public. How do i join up?
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The Quality Scouts are members of the public who’ve volunteered to visit McDonald’s farms and suppliers to see first-hand how food is produced. The Make Up Your Own Mind website posts their photo diaries and reports, and you can ask the Scouts to investigate the things that matter to you.
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