Day 283 - 21 Oct 96 - Page 44


     
     1        sensibly treated together because they all arise out of the
     2        same point, which is cattle ranching.
     3
     4   MR. MORRIS:   Right, yes.
     5
     6   MR. JUSTICE BELL:   I say all.  They both, the two heads.
     7
     8   MR. MORRIS:   Yes.  So I will not go into meanings at this
     9        stage.  I think that me and Helen might have to have a chat
    10        about that subject.
    11
    12        Regarding the policy matter, policy, McDonald's have
    13        claimed policy.  Edward Oakley - and I cannot give you the
    14        references now but I am going to go away and get the
    15        references to any point I bring up now - but Edward Oakley,
    16        senior vice president and chief purchasing officer, I
    17        believe for Northern Europe, claimed McDonald's have a
    18        consciousness of environmental considerations and referred
    19        to the company's environmental task force and the corporate
    20        policy on the subject.
    21
    22        He stated he did not know when the policy was published but
    23        had seen it, quote, on a wall, unquote, at the head
    24        office.  He said the policy, quote, had not had a direct
    25        effect on the purchasing department, unquote, but, quote,
    26        it certainly did on the communications department.  I think
    27        that this is a very revealing admission about the purpose,
    28        the major purpose, if not the only purpose, there are many
    29        examples, of having a policy, that it affects the PR
    30        department more than the relevant departments such as
    31        purchasing.
    32
    33        Moving on to tropical forests, commonly known as
    34        rainforests, we have heard about the global promotion by
    35        McDonald's of beef consumption, huge advertising budget,
    36        and the world's largest user of beef, and that the damage
    37        that cattle ranching has unquestionably inflicted on
    38        tropical forests recognised that as far back as 1982, in
    39        that letter which I mentioned before, that they have
    40        publicly stated they have never used any meat from cattle
    41        raised in former rainforests.  And they have stated that a
    42        number of times, in solicitors' letters, public leaflets,
    43        wherever.  And it is a lie.
    44
    45        Now, coming to the policy on rainforests, claimed policy on
    46        rainforests, Ray Cesca, director of global purchasing and
    47        worldwide trade of the corporation, gave evidence that he
    48        drafted the rainforest policy statements.  He said that the
    49        policy not to use ex-rainforest or recently deforested
    50        rainforest land had taken four to six weeks to write, in 
    51        1989, although he claimed it had existed "verbally" since 
    52        the company opened its first store in 1955 -- which we 
    53        would say is completely ludicrous and absurd, that they had
    54        no policy about rainforests when they opened their first
    55        store in 1955.  He said that: "Recently deforested
    56        rainforests means since we decided to open a restaurant in
    57        a specific country", and agreed with Mr. Rampton QC that,
    58        in theory, some rainforests might be cut down a year or six
    59        months before McDonald's made that decision to move into a
    60        country, put cattle on it, and McDonald's could, in theory,

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