2Sustain

The nonprofit advocacy group Mercy for Animals launched an undercover investigation into McDonald’s egg supplier Sparboe Egg Farms and found cruel conditions. Hidden-camera video from the investigation showed a number of abuses, including:

• the use of battery cages, which are banned in California, Michigan and throughout the entire European Union,
• workers burning off the beaks of young chicks and callously throwing them into cages, some missing the cage doors and hitting the floor and
• rotted hens, decomposed beyond recognition as birds, left in cages with hens still laying eggs for human consumption.

In a statement, McDonald’s described the behavior on the video as “disturbing and completely unacceptable.” (more…)

Back in March, I wrote about McDonald’s new Sustainable Land Management Commitment (SLMC). Now, McDonald’s has extended this commitment even more by joining the Roundtable on Sustainable Palm Oil (RSPO), an organization that promotes the growth and use of sustainable oil palm products through credible global standards and engagement of stakeholders.

As a result of its membership in the RSPO, McDonald’s says that by the end of this year, it will source palm oil only from RSPO member companies. By 2015, only RSPO-certified palm oil will be used in McDonald’s restaurants, pre-cooked chicken and potato products.

This new focus on palm oil comes after an analysis conducted as part of McDonald’s SLMC.  The company, in collaboration with World Wildlife Fund (WWF), identified which of its raw materials have the most potential sustainability impacts. The list includes beef, poultry, coffee, fiber for packaging and palm oil –and so McDonald’s is going to center its attention on those areas. (more…)

Sainsbury’s, one of the UK’s leading retailers, revealed a new £1 billion (about $1.6 billion USD) sustainability plan last week, establishing 20 specific targets the company wants to achieve by 2020.

The Sainsbury’s 20 by 20 Sustainability Plan will focus on four key areas: (more…)

Kroger, the nation’s largest traditional grocery retailer, has announced significant improvements to its seafood buying practices and standards.

Working in partnership with WWF, Kroger says by 2015, it wants to source 100 percent of its top 20 wild-caught species from sources that are certified by the Marine Stewardship Council (MSC), in full assessment, or involved in a Fishery Improvement Project with WWF.

In addition, Kroger will:

(more…)

Worldwide demand for palm oil is enormous. According to the WWF, palm oil can now be found in about half of the packaged supermarket products that consumers buy every day. Plus, it’s increasingly used as a biofuel.

Unfortunately, though, researchers estimate that only six percent of the current global supply of palm oil is sustainably grown. As it stands now, the vast majority of palm oil production is driving large-scale destruction of rainforests across southeast Asia. (See this Greenpeace report for more details about the critical importance of sustainable palm oil production.)

Fortunately, a handful of food manufacturers recognize the devastating environmental impact of current palm oil production methods, and they are beginning to take action.

Earlier this month, Kellogg Company has announced that it wants to become a leader in this area, too. The company says it wants to purchase sustainable palm oil –but that can only happen if a segregated palm oil supply is available that is financially and logistically feasible. In the meantime, Kellogg will help fund sustainable palm oil production through purchasing GreenPalm certificates covering 100 percent of its global palm oil use. Kellogg is the first in the US food industry to take this step.

The company is also: (more…)