Day 241 - 26 Apr 96 - Page 32
1 raised in this case and hereby summarise my views. I
2 believe that the present global overproduction and
3 overconsumption of beef are unsustainable from an
4 environmental and socio-economic standpoint, as well as
5 from a human health and animal welfare standpoint. For
6 this reason giant multinational fast-food chains such as
7 McDonald's and Burger King have come under increased
8 scrutiny and criticism in recent years for (a) using beef
9 from countries such as Costa Rica and Guatemala which have
10 serious deforestation problems directly related to cattle
11 ranching and a traditional Third World agro-export model of
12 agriculture; and (b) for exporting a model of retail food
13 service (a US style fast-food menu high in fat and
14 cholesterol and low in nutritional value) and beef
15 consumption which are culturally inappropriate, unhealthy
16 and unsustainable.
17
18 "Although companies like McDonald's and Burger King like to
19 claim that they are in favour of rainforest preservation
20 and maintain that they buy no hamburger meat from recently
21 deforested areas, they are an integral part of a worldwide
22 'Hamburger Connection' which -- left unchecked --
23 threatens to destroy what's left of our tropical
24 rainforests an undermine the possibility of sustainable
25 agriculture in countries like Costa Rica and Guatemala.
26
27 "By the end of the decade the majority of McDonald's
28 profits are slated to come from its overseas operations,
29 with a growing Third World market, especially in Mexico,
30 Brazil and Latin America, becoming increasingly important.
31 With the globalization of the world economy, more and more
32 US beef and dairy production will move south of the border
33 to Mexico and Central America, further undermining
34 traditional, more sustainable agricultural practices.
35
36 "I have read a statement by UK journalist, David Rose, of
37 The Observer, who quotes McDonald's London management to
38 the effect that they would not buy beef from rainforest
39 areas deforested within 10 years previously (their stated
40 policy up to 1988) or 25 years (their stated policy from
41 1989 through to the present). Of course, this policy does
42 not exonerate McDonald's from complicity in the worldwide
43 'Hamburger Connection' since (1) meat imported into the US
44 from rainforest zones is routinely mixed together with
45 domestically produced hamburger meat in the meat processing
46 plants; (2) by their own admission McDonald's is directly
47 complicit in rainforest destruction prior to 1988; (3)
48 neither a 10 year nor a 25 year time span gives tropical
49 rainforest time to naturally regenerate.
50
51 As I indicate below, the only corporate policy consistent
52 with tropical rainforest preservation is to ban all foreign
53 beef imports into Northern Hemisphere countries such as the
54 US or the UK; and in countries where McDonald's operates
55 containing rainforests (Brazil, Mexico, Costa Rica,
56 Guatemala, etcetera) to stop buying beef from lands which
57 were ever (or at least in the last 100 to 200 years)
58 covered by rainforest.
59
60 "Years of travel and investigation in Guatemala have shown
