Questions answered
There are 9 questions about “Rainforest” in the “How do you operate?” topic.
Click on a question to read our answer.
- 1. How many acres of rainforest destruction are McDonalds responsible for with their unethical sourcing of products?
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McDonald's is fully aware of the need to protect and preserve the environment, including the rainforests. The Company works globally with its suppliers to a policy of not taking cattle from recently deforested areas in the Amazon Rainforest. In addition, together with Greenpeace, McDonald's has engaged in discussions with other NGOs (non-governmental organisations), companies and the soya industry in Brazil to prevent further deforestation due to the production of soya for animal feed. The result of this work is an agreement by the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries and the National Association of Grain Exporters and their members not to trade soya from deforested areas within the Amazon as of October 2006. In addition, McDonald’s has joined the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, which was created by the food industry to improve conditions for local communities. This great new initiative led McDonald's to change its coffee to a new Kenco Rainforest Alliance Certified Coffee. This was chosen because the programme takes a holistic approach to supply chain sustainability. What this means is that because farms are certified based on social and environmental standards that guide farmers towards long-term sustainable farm management, the quality of the coffee produced is generally higher. This means that McDonald’s customers get competitively priced high quality Arabica coffee that has been produced under sustainable conditions according to standards that benefit coffee farmers and the environment. McDonald's firmly believes that the Rainforest Alliance's focus on social and environmental standards and sustainable farm management complements its own supply chain principles. If you would like further information on the Sustainable Agriculture Initiative Platform, please visit the website at www.saiplatform.org, where you’ll find a section on coffee growing. You can also look out for more information in restaurants or at www.rainforest-alliance.org.
(June 2008)
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 2. Can you please tell me why McDonalds are chopping down the amazon rainforests to grow soya in fields to feed all the chickens to make McNugets and then leaving dry deserrt land behind them. We are meant to be saving the planet not destroying the one thing that can offset carbon emissions!!!
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Firstly, many apologies for the very slow response to your question, as the site went through a few changes and technical updates some questions had slipped through so thank you for your patience. Please continue to check back on the site from time to time for all the latest on Make Up Your Own Mind. Regarding your question, Greenpeace recently raised concerns that some soya meal being used by a broad range of food businesses is being sourced from areas that have been illegally cleared in the Brazilian rainforest. As a company McDonald’s takes steps to make sure that we do not source from recently deforested areas. What’s more, after discussions with McDonald’s, Greenpeace and other NGOs, the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries and the National Association of Grain Exporters and their members have agreed not to trade soya from deforested areas within the Amazon as of October 2006 by signing a moratorium. The first year of this two-year moratorium has shown good and positive progress, and McDonalds is committed to making sure that this continues. Should some of the measures take longer than the stated two years to implement, McDonalds expects the moratorium to remain in place until they are fully implemented. See the following website for further details: http://www.greenpeace.org/usa/news/soy-moratorium-reaches-one-yea.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 3. I can understand that McDonlad's have recently adopted a policy meaning you do not destroy rainforest for cattle pasture. But in the years 2000 and 2001, how many square kilometres did you destroy? You did not have this policy then, so I assume that you did at one point destroy rainforest for you cattle.
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McDonald's globally has a long-standing policy not to source beef from recently deforested areas in the Amazon Rainforest. By implementing this, McDonald’s is ensuring that beef production doesn’t result in the clearance of rainforest and together with Greenpeace, McDonald’s have instigated an agreement by the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries and the National Association of Grain Exporters and their members that they will not trade soya from deforested areas within the Amazon as of October 2006, thereby preventing further deforestation. McDonald’s sources ingredients locally wherever possible.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 4. do you kill rainforests?
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No. McDonald's globally works with its suppliers to a policy of not taking cattle from recently deforested areas in the Amazon Rainforest. Furthermore, after discussions with McDonald’s, Greenpeace and other NGOs, the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries and the National Association of Grain Exporters and their members not to trade soya from areas within the Amazon that have been deforested as of October 2006.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 5. please have a look at this!! www.greenpeace.org.uk/mcdonalds/logginit.html time is running out! why do you make money when your killing the furture! but hay it doesnt matter its all going on over there out of site, behind the bright colours of mcdonald's and the :) "we're trashin'it" :(
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McDonald's globally works with its suppliers to a policy of not taking cattle from recently deforested areas in the Amazon Rainforest. McDonald’s, together with Greenpeace engaged in discussions with other NGOs, companies and the soya industry in Brazil to prevent further deforestation due to the production of soya for animal feed. This work has resulted in an agreement by the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries and the National Association of Grain Exporters and their members not to trade soya from deforested areas within the Amazon as of October 2006. If you take a look at that website link now, you’ll find that Greenpeace’s view of McDonald’s has changed for the positive.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 6. Can the food for the chickens for McNuggets be guaranteed not to come from cleared amazon rainforest and if not why not?
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Yes. McDonald's together with Greenpeace engaged in discussions with other NGOs, companies and the soya industry in Brazil to prevent further deforestation due to the production of soya for animal feed. This work has resulted in an agreement by the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries and the National Association of Grain Exporters and their members not to trade soya from areas within the Amazon that have been deforested as of October 2006.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 7. Are you chopping down South american rainforests to grow chicken feed?
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No. McDonald's together with Greenpeace engaged in discussions with other NGOs, companies and the soya industry in Brazil to prevent further deforestation due to the production of soya for animal feed. This work has resulted in an agreement by the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries and the National Association of Grain Exporters and their members not to trade soya from areas within the Amazon that have been deforested as of October 2006.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 8. In a previous question you said you do not use soya from "recently deforested areas". How recent is recent, and do you avoid soya from these areas permanently, or only until the "recent" period has passed?
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McDonald’s has stated that it has a policy of not taking cattle from recently deforested areas, a policy that has been in place since 1989, and applies to any deforestation occurring from that date forward. In relation to soya, together with Greenpeace McDonald's engaged in discussions with other NGOs (non- governmental organisations), companies and the soya industry in Brazil to prevent further deforestation. This work has resulted in an agreement by the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries and the National Association of Grain Exporters and their members that they will not trade soya from deforested areas within the Amazon as of October 2006.
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What are these? Delicious Digg Reddit Facebook StumbleUpon - 9. are chickens you use in your products feed on soya grown in areas of deforrested rainforrest
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Greenpeace recently raised concerns that some soya meal being used by a broad range of food businesses is being sourced from areas that have been illegally cleared in the Brazilian rainforest. As a company McDonald’s takes steps to make sure that we do not source from recently deforested areas. What’s more, after discussions with McDonald’s, Greenpeace and other NGOs, the Brazilian Association of Vegetable Oil Industries and the National Association of Grain Exporters and their members have agreed not to trade soya from deforested areas within the Amazon as of October 2006.
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