cookiesinheaven

Labels: Food, food safety, McDonalds

A chicken squats in a shed the size of a football pitch somewhere in the outback of Brazil. And it's not alone.

One of tens of thousands, each bird is allowed the floor space equivalent to a sheet of A4 paper and will live for just 40 days before it hits its genetically-engineered slaughter weight. That's if it doesn't perish along the way.

Five per cent or so will be unable to cope with the conditions and die even before then.

Those that survive will be plucked and butchered in an industrial process the like of which this planet has never before seen.

Every year billions of chickens will live and die in this way. Of course, South America is a long way away. But your local McDonald's is not. And that is where a significant proportion of this intensively reared meat will eventually end up.

McChicken Sandwich: Much of McDonalds' poultry comes from Brazil, where the animals live in cramped conditions

Of all the chicken churned out by the fast-food chain - the equivalent of 30 million birds a year - 60 per cent is imported frozen from Brazil. A further nine per cent comes from Thailand and 30 per cent from Holland- The Daily Mail

Labels: Brazil, chicken, globalization, Holland, McDonalds, Thailand

Labels: childhood, children, Fast Food, marketing, McDonalds, obesity

A local McDonald's restaurant recently unveiled a one-of-a-kind Feng Shui-inspired design, the nation's first. The restaurant, located at 15628 Gale Avenue, blends
classic architecture with modern Feng Shui aspects including water elements, earth tones, red accents and exotic fauna. The recently renovated restaurant also features San Gabriel Valley's first McCafe, a coffee bar adjacent to the front counter. - PRNewswire and SGVTribune

Labels: Interior Design, McDonalds

McDonald’s Corp. will help franchisees pay the $1 billion-plus cost of its bid to compete with Starbucks across the country next year.

The company told franchisees this week that it will pay up to 40% of the costs to remodel restaurants to accommodate the machines needed to make lattes, mocha drinks and other specialty beverages. McDonald’s USA President Don Thompson said last month said the remodeling could cost as much as $75,000 for each of the 13,800 U.S. restaurants.

The price McDonald’s pays per restaurant will vary depending on the amount of remodeling needed, but if the company pays $30,000 a restaurant, the total would exceed $400 million. In addition to the cost of remodeling, franchisees would have to pay about $25,000 per restaurant for the new beverage equipment. - Chicagobusiness

$400 million. That's a lot of $1 burgers they'll have to flip. Why don't they concentrate on greening up their business, putting their weight behind better food safety regulation, etc. instead of branching off into a realm they are sure to lose.

Labels: Fast Food, McDonalds

McDonald's fish sandwich is more sustainable than Nobu's menu (the restaurant for the stars), because it is sourced from an Alaskan fishery certified by the Marine Stewardship Council. McDonald's, though, does not advertise the MSC label because then it would have to pay a licensing fee.

Labels: McDonalds, Nobu, Sustainable