McDonald’s Corp. said Monday it will require its U.S. pork suppliers to provide plans by May to phase out crates that tightly confine pregnant sows, a move that one animal rights group predicted would have “a seismic impact” on the industry.
The U.S. pork industry generates sales of about $21 billion a year, according to the National Pork Producers Council. McDonald’s, with its Sausage McMuffin, McRib sandwich and breakfast platters, is one of the largest U.S. buyers of pork products, consuming about 1 percent of the nation’s total production.
The fast food chain announced its decision in a joint statement with the Humane Society of the United States, which hailed it as a major victory in its fight against so-called gestation crates. The animal welfare group has been pushing legislation in several states to outlaw the crates that severely limit animals’ movement.
“I think it’s going to have a seismic impact on the pork industry because it signals to every other major food retailer that this is the morally correct pathway, but it’s also an economically feasible pathway,” said Wayne Pacelle, the Humane Society’s CEO.
Many of McDonald’s competitors, including Burger King, Wendy’s and Hardee’s, have already begun to move away from suppliers who use gestation crates, and the fast food chain’s announcement came a day after Chipotle Mexican Grill made a splash with a nearly two-and-a-half minute television commercial aired during the Grammy’s and touting its ban on pork produced using the crates.
The commercial, an animated short film featuring the Coldplay song “The Scientist” sung by Willie Nelson, was released online in August. It features a farmer who experiences a crisis of conscience, prompting him to abandon factory-like farming methods and free his pigs, chickens and cows from confinement. It had more than 4.6 million views on YouTube by Monday afternoon.
“We are changing the way people think about and eat fast food,” Steve Ells, founder, chairman and co-CEO of Chipotle, said in a statement. “We have always understood the importance of serving food that is raised right, but that is a difficult thing to communicate with the limitations of traditional advertising.”
Unlike Chipotle, McDonald’s is not ending its relationship with suppliers who use gestation crates.
“We’re really looking to see a positive change regarding moving away from gestation stalls, and we think the best way to do that is working with our suppliers,” McDonald’s spokeswoman Lisa McComb said. “They’re the ones that actually have to take action to make this happen.”
Some of McDonald’s suppliers and other major pork producers have already announced plans to phase out gestation crates.
Smithfield Foods Inc., the world’s largest pork producer, and Hormel Foods Corp. have both said they would stop using them at company-owned farms by 2017. Cargill Inc. says it has already widely adopted group housing for pregnant sows.
McDonald’s said it is seeking reports from all its suppliers by May on measures being taken to end the use of gestation crates. After a review, it will decide how to proceed.
Even such a cautious approach was welcomed by animal rights groups, given McDonald’s huge buying power. Nathan Runkle, executive director of Mercy For Animals, a Chicago-based nonprofit animal rights group, said he hoped the company would take a similar approach with egg suppliers, who often keep chickens in similar cramped cages.
“They do have the power to move an entire industry, to set an example that other food providers often follow,” Runkle said. “We hope it’s the beginning of the end of these cruel and abusive practices.”
Pig farmers keep pregnant sows in gestation crates in an effort to reduce aggressive behavior by separating them from other hogs and feeding them individually.
The National Pork Producers Council, which has been concerned about the possibility of federal legislation limiting farming practices, said studies have shown individual and group housing can provide good care for sows. It said it will help McDonald’s assess housing practices, and the most important part of Monday’s announcement was that the change was driven by the market and not by government mandates. (AP)
<관련 한글 기사>
맥도날드: “학대 지적” 돼지 이제 안 써요
맥도날드가 동물 학대라는 지적을 받아온 좁은 우리에서 가둬 키운 돼지고기 구매를 점차 중단하기로 했다고 인터내셔널헤럴드트리뷴(IHT)이 15일 보도했다.
돼지고기 공급업체들과 협력해 암퇘지를 임신기간에 가둬놓는 좁은 우리인 ‘임신용 우리(gestation crate)’ 사용을 단계적으로 줄이기로 한 것이다.
임신용 우리는 크기가 가로 60cm 세로 213cm로 돼지 한 마리가 몸을 움직일 수도 없을 만큼 작아 잔인하다는 지적을 받아왔다.
동물보호가들은 돼지가 움직이지 못하는 상태에서 4개월간 갇혀 있으면 요로감 염이나 뼈 조직 약화, 정신적 스트레스 같은 여러 가지 건강상 문제가 발생한다고 고발해왔다.
하지만 미국에서 길러지는 암퇘지 500만마리 가운데 60~70%가 이런 우리에서 사육되고 있는 것이 현실이다.
맥도날드의 밥 랭거트는 스미스필드 팜이나 카길사 등 몇몇 대형 공급업체가 이 미 임신용 우리 사용을 줄이기 시작했지만 여전히 미국에서 공급되는 돼지고기의 많은 양이 임신용 우리에서 생산된다고 지적했다.
이에 따라 맥도날드는 미국과 캐나다의 베이컨 생산업체 등 5개 직접공급업체에 임신용 우리 의존을 줄일 방안을 제출하라고 요청하고 이를 평가해 5월 중 어떤 조처를 할지 발표하기로 했다.
랭거트는 맥도날드는 공급업체에서 완제품을 구매하고 공급업체는 가공시설에서, 가공시설은 농장에서 구매하는 식으로 유통과정이 복잡한 만큼 “간단한 작업이 아니다”고 설명했다.
미국 돼지고기생산자협회는 맥도날드의 이런 결정에 대해 “소비자들이 돼지를 기르는 방법이 변하기를 희망했고, 농장주들이 이에 부응해 관행을 바꾸고 있다”며 지지의사를 표명했다.
맥도날드는 미국에서 생산되는 돼지고기의 약 1%를 구매하고 있지만 영향력은 훨씬 더 크기 때문에 이번 조치가 어떤 반향을 일으킬지 주목된다.
앞서 1999년 맥도날드가 계란 공급업체에 암탉의 사육 공간을 늘리라고 요청하 자 다른 패스트푸드 업체들도 이를 뒤따랐고, 곧 대부분 계란 생산업체가 암탉 우리를 늘리는 결과를 가져왔었다.
한편 버거킹은 패스트푸드 업체 중 최초로 지난 2007년부터 임신용 우리에서 길러진 돼지고기 구입을 줄이고 있고, 세계 최대 돼지고기 업체 스미스필드 푸드도 생산시설에서 임신용 우리 사용을 2017년까지 중단하겠다고 약속한 바 있다.
또 좁은 우리에서 생산되는 육류에서 발생하는 문제점에 대한 인식이 높아지면서 이미 플로리다와 캘리포니아 등 미국의 여러 주도 육류와 계란 생산에 좁은 우리를 사용하는 것을 법으로 금지하고 있다. (연합뉴스)
