McDonald’s Push to Sustainability

McDonald’s made a groundbreaking announcement today – they will become the first US fast food chain to offer sustainable seafood in their restaurants. The seafood will be served in all locations. The seafood is certified as sustainable by the Marine Stewardship Council. This organization is an independent group that is a non-profit. They set the standards for what makes seafood sustainable by constantly monitoring the oceans and checking the health of the fish stock, how large fisheries are impacting the ecosystem and the general managing the systems that fisheries use to manage their stock. McDonald’s will be using the Marine Stewardship Council’s ratings to ensure that all fish served in their restaurants meet their criteria. The chain’s fish was initially certified in 2005, but McDonald’s recently audited their supply in order to be sure that their fish were completely sustainable and that their supply was traceable. They always use fish that has been sustainable at some point, but the constant changing ecosystem of the ocean and changes in supply and demand mean that restaurants need to recertify and check their supply to ensure true sustainability.

McDonald’s Seafood

The label from the Marine Stewardship Council will be on the packages and launched (of course) with a marketing campaign. The goal is to have eco-conscious and earth-friendly consumers to feel that McDonald’s is making efforts to work towards a greener earth and lower their environmental impact.

Fish Supply

McDonald’s announcement can be seen as a victory for those who are pushing for sustainability. McDonald’s buys so much fish in the US that they are one of the largest buyers of seafood nationwide. One of McDonald’s representatives released a press release, noting that the company was honored to guarantee to their customers the same familiar taste in their fish sandwich, but with “the additional assurance that the fish they are buying can be traced back to a fishery that meets MSC’s strict sustainability standard.” Many who are applauding these efforts point to the fact that this move lags behind what the McDonald’s in Europe have been doing for years. The restaurants in Europe pledged to only serve MSC certified food back in 2011.

The Popularity of Sustainability

Going green for restaurants and companies provides several benefits – it promotes a better image for the company, it allows the company to say that they are compassionate and concerned with global issues and lets people shop there without the guilt. Target made a recent promise to only sell sustainable seafood by 2015. The yuppie Mecca Whole Foods stopped selling any seafood that is considered unsustainable after Earth Day in 2015. But progress is progress. McDonald’s claims to be working towards overall sustainability – in their beef and chicken, though this remains hard to define. Many experts point out that the efforts towards sustainability do not always recognize the issues of greenhouse gas emissions, and that overall evaluations of the environmental impact of corporations are vital to actually assessing a company’s “greenness.”