textfiles/politics/SPUNK/sp000473.txt

	     What's Wrong With McDonald's?


McDonald's spend a fortune on advertisements, trying to cultivate
an image of being a "caring" and "green" company that is also a
fun place to eat.  Children are lured in (dragging their parents
behind them) with the promise of "free" toys and other gimmicks.
But behind the smiling face of Ronald McDonald lies the reality -
McDonald's only interest is money, making profits from whoever and
whatever they can.

STARVING THE POOR

 - While millions of people are starving, vast areas of land in
 poor countries are used for cattle ranching or to grow grain to
 feed animals to be eaten in the West.  McDonald's continually
 promote meat products, encouraging people to eat meat more often,
 which wastes more and more food resources.  145 million tons of
 grain fed to livestock produces only 21 million tons of meat and
 by-products.  On a vegetarian diet Britain could easily be
 self-sufficient in food.


DESTROYING THE EARTH

 - The world's most beautiful forests are being destroyed at an
 appalling rate by multinational companies.  McDonald's have at
 last been forced to admit to using beef reared on ex-rainforest
 land, preventing the regeneration of forests.  Also, the use of
 farmland by multinationals and their suppliers forces local
 people to move on to other areas and cut down further trees.
 McDonald's is the world's largest user of beef.  Methane emitted
 by cattle reared for the beef industry is a major cause of the
 "global warming" crisis. Every year McDonald's use thousands of
 tons of unnecessary packaging, much of which ends up littering
 our streets or polluting the land buried in landfill sites.


RUINING YOUR HEALTH

 - McDonald's promote their food as "healthy", but the reality is
 that it is high in fat, sugar and salt, and low in fibre and
 vitamins.  A diet of this type is linked with a greater risk of
 heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases.  Their food
 also contains many chemical additives, some of which may cause
 ill health, and hyperactivity in children.   Don't forget too
 that meat is the cause of the majority of food poisoning
 incidents.  In 1991 McDonald's were responsible for an outbreak
 of food poisoning in the UK, in which people suffered serious
 kidney failure.


MURDERING ANIMALS

 - The menus of the burger chains are based on the torture and
 murder of millions of animals.  Most are intensively farmed, with
 no access to fresh air and sunshine, and no freedom of movement.
 Their deaths are barbaric - "humane slaughter" is a myth.  We
 have the choice to eat meat or not, but the 750 million animals
 massacred for food in Britain each year have no choice at all.


EXPLOITING THEIR STAFF

 - Workers in the burger chains are paid low wages.  McDonald's do
 not pay overtime rates even when employees work very long hours.
 Pressure to keep profits high and wage costs low results in
 understaffing, so staff have to work harder and faster and as a
 consequence accidents, particularly burns, are common.  The
 majority of employees are people who have few job options and so
 are forced to accept this exploitation.  Not surprisingly staff
 turnover at McDonald's is high, making it virtually impossible to
 unionise and fight for a better deal, which suits McDonald's who
 have always been opposed to Unions.


CENSORSHIP and McLIBEL

 - Criticism of McDonald's has come from a huge number of people
 and organisations over a wide number of issues.  In the
 mid-eighties London Greenpeace drew together many of those
 strands of criticism and called for an annual World Day of Action
 against McDonald's.  This still takes place every year on 16th
 October, with pickets and demonstrations all over the world.
 McDonald's, who spend over one billion dollars every year on
 advertising and promotions, are trying to silence the world-wide
 campaign by threatening legal action against those who speak out.
 Many have been forced to back down because they lacked the money
 to fight a case. But this year, Helen Steel and Dave Morris, two
 supporters of London Greenpeace will defend themselves in a major
 High Court libel trial.  No legal aid is available so the unwaged
 environmentalists are representing themselves.  McDonald's have
 engaged in a huge cover up, refusing to disclose masses of
 relevant documents.  Also, the defendants have been denied their
 right to a jury after McDonald's argued that the issues in the
 case would be "too complex" for members of the public to
 understand.  Despite all the cards being stacked against them,
 Helen and Dave are determined to expose the truth.  Protests
 against the $24 billion a year fast food giant continue.  It's
 vital to stand up to intimidation and to defend free speech.


WHAT YOU CAN DO

 - Together we can fight back against the institutions and the
 people in power who dominate our lives and our planet, and we can
 create a better society without exploitation.  Talk to friends
 and family, neighbours and workmates about these issues.  Please
 copy and circulate this leaflet as widely as you can.


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RETURN TO:  Greenpeace (London), 5 Caledonian Road, London N1,
Britain.  Tel  071-837 7557;  int'l +44-71-837 7557.