This summer, McDonald’s will open two “green” locations in which the company will replace some of its plastic straws, lids and packaging with recyclable materials. This is good news for the environment, which suffers greatly from an economy reliant on single-use plastics. But if McDonald’s really wants to go green, it also needs to change what’s on the menu by adding several plant-based options, such as a meat-free Big Mac and vegan McNuggets. Why? As New York Times writer Timothy Egan put it, “Industrial agriculture to produce meat is the coal-mining of food production.”
Raising the tens of billions of pigs, chickens and cows we consume takes an enormous toll on the planet. For starters, one-third of Earth’s ice-free land is used for grazing or growing crops to feed factory-farmed animals. These animals — well, they eat a lot, drink a lot and go to the bathroom just like you and me, but their waste often makes its way into lakes, rivers and oceans, polluting water and killing countless fish.
Once the factory-farmed animals reach market weight, they’re packed into transport trucks destined for slaughter, and then their meat is shipped around the world. According to one report, raising and killing animals for food is so terrible for the environment that meat and dairy companies are on track to surpass the oil industry as the world’s biggest polluters.
It’s an inefficient, inhumane and unsustainable system, especially compared with plant-based food production.
For example, Beyond Meat burgers, which are made from peas, require 46% less energy, 99% less water, and 93% less land than hamburgers, according to a University of Michigan study. But this isn’t your grandpa’s veggie burger, as the Beyond Burger has tricked the most avid of carnivores. Christina Chaey, an editor at Bon Appetit, says the burger is “so realistic” it fooled her entire family. The Impossible Burger, a similarly meat-like burger, will be available in all Burger King locations by the end of the year. The Impossible Whopper was first tested in St. Louis, where you’d think it would’ve been rejected, considering the city ranks fourth in best cities for meat lovers. Instead, customers went wild for it. Burger King’s sales in the area went up by 28%, while McDonald’s sales went up by a mere 2%.
Burger King isn’t alone. Denny’s, Chipotle, Qdoba, White Castle, Red Robin and other major restaurant chains have added plant-based protein to the menu with similar fanfare. Most of these companies are taking another positive step: changing how their suppliers treat chickens. McDonald’s lags behind on the issue, despite more than 300,000 people demanding that the company improve on animal welfare.
The lesson here is that sometimes doing the right thing for the environment can also be profitable, a lesson McDonald’s has yet to truly learn, considering it’s focusing more on cutlery than food — the core of its business and where it can make the largest impact.
To be fair, the company has tested plant-based burgers in Germany, Finland and Sweden. But these locations make up a tiny fraction of its business, and competitors have already launched plant-based options across the U.S. If McDonald’s really wants to affect its carbon footprint, it needs to listen to its 220,000 U.S. customers who want a plant-based burger or McNugget in the U.S. — where almost half its locations are — and then launch and heavily promote these items. Until then, its “green” initiatives will fall far short of the company’s potential, delaying progress when the planet needs climate action now.
Torrella is the vice president of public engagement at Mercy For Animals.
