How much do fast food restraunts really care about the animals they serve?
If you asked children their favorite food, most would probably say a kid’s meal from a fast food restaurant would top the list. In a society where time has become a highly valued commodity, people are often looking for fast and relatively inexpensive places to eat. Last year alone, there was a 2.3 percent increase in the amount of food purchased from fast food restaurants in Canada. Recently, there has been an increase in public concern regarding how animals are treated. Some consumers are demanding that animal welfare standards be set and met by producers for the products they are purchasing, especially from fast food establishments.
Animal welfare concerns in the fast food industry first gained the public spotlight during the longest public relations trial in the UK’s history. Helen Steel and David Morris, two London Greenpeace activists, were sued by McDonalds for distributing pamphlets to consumers that were critical of the corporation. The trial lasted just over two years, ending when the judge ruled in favor of McDonalds. However, he did highly criticize McDonalds and stated that they were “...culpably responsible for cruel practices in the rearing and slaughter of some of the animals which are used to produce their food.” Consumers began to question animal welfare standards in the fast food industry, and soon demanded that changes be made.
McDonalds’ image suffered a major blow after the trial, so the company quickly responded to consumer demands. An animal welfare council, composed of six animal welfare experts, was hired, including the well-known animal behaviourist Dr. Temple Grandin. Since 1999, all beef, pork, chicken, and egg suppliers must be audited and adhere to set standards of animal welfare. In 2002 there were 500 audits conducted at processing facilities around the world. The standards of housing, handling, and humane slaughtering are all evaluated, and suppliers who do not meet standards will no longer be able to sell their product to these fast food restaurants. While most suppliers pass the audits, those that do not are given 30 days to make the necessary changes to reach McDonalds’ standards.
Soon after McDonalds made their own policies on animal welfare, its biggest competitors followed suit. Similar animal welfare councils have been formed by hiring numerous agricultural researchers and animal behaviourists to develop humane standards and review the effectiveness of changes made by suppliers. Performing standardized audits on their suppliers has become the norm. These audits follow the guidelines developed by Dr. Grandin, who has now also been hired as a consultant for both Wendys and Burger King. There have even been talks between companies to set industry-wide standards, likely through a third party system. “The leadership that has been shown in the past several years by fast food restaraunts with respect to standards for animal care has been remarkable,” says Dr. Craig Wilkinson, DVM and director of animal care for the Faculty of Agriculture, Forestry and Home Economics at the University of Alberta.
With dramatic changes in industry standards, suppliers have been forced to adopt their policies, raising questions about the costs. New housing and slaughter equipment does not come cheap. However, these investments are easily made up by increasing profits. Companies are paying more than ever for meat and eggs from humane suppliers. Research has also shown humane treatment of animals decreases injury/ bruising and mortality while improving meat quality and egg production. Susan Church, the general manager of Alberta Farm Animal Care (AFAC) agrees, as she has seen that “raising the standards, regarding animal welfare, has led to better quality products.” An increase in supply with better product quality leads to greater profits, which is enough reason in itself to treat animals humanely.
Enforcing standards has made a huge impact on animal welfare across North America. In 1996, audits were performed by Dr. Grandin and the USDA, and only 30% of beef plants were in compliance with American Meat Institute’s guidelines for stunning animals. Just 4 years later, after McDonalds became involved, this number skyrocketed to 74%, and continues to climb to this day. Dr. Grandin has stated “I have been working in the meat industry for more than 25 years and I saw more improvements in 1999 than I have seen in my entire career.” Consumers demanded standards, and fast food restaurants responded above and beyond expectations. This movement may very well be the first step towards improving standards for livestock from all suppliers, making our next hamburger meal a little easier to swallow.
- Lindsey Kurach, Jessica Lynch
