125 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
125 lines
5.3 KiB
Plaintext
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What's Wrong With McDonald's?
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McDonald's spend a fortune on advertisements, trying to cultivate
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an image of being a "caring" and "green" company that is also a
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fun place to eat. Children are lured in (dragging their parents
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behind them) with the promise of "free" toys and other gimmicks.
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But behind the smiling face of Ronald McDonald lies the reality -
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McDonald's only interest is money, making profits from whoever and
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whatever they can.
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STARVING THE POOR
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- While millions of people are starving, vast areas of land in
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poor countries are used for cattle ranching or to grow grain to
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feed animals to be eaten in the West. McDonald's continually
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promote meat products, encouraging people to eat meat more often,
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which wastes more and more food resources. 145 million tons of
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grain fed to livestock produces only 21 million tons of meat and
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by-products. On a vegetarian diet Britain could easily be
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self-sufficient in food.
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DESTROYING THE EARTH
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- The world's most beautiful forests are being destroyed at an
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appalling rate by multinational companies. McDonald's have at
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last been forced to admit to using beef reared on ex-rainforest
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land, preventing the regeneration of forests. Also, the use of
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farmland by multinationals and their suppliers forces local
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people to move on to other areas and cut down further trees.
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McDonald's is the world's largest user of beef. Methane emitted
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by cattle reared for the beef industry is a major cause of the
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"global warming" crisis. Every year McDonald's use thousands of
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tons of unnecessary packaging, much of which ends up littering
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our streets or polluting the land buried in landfill sites.
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RUINING YOUR HEALTH
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- McDonald's promote their food as "healthy", but the reality is
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that it is high in fat, sugar and salt, and low in fibre and
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vitamins. A diet of this type is linked with a greater risk of
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heart disease, cancer, diabetes and other diseases. Their food
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also contains many chemical additives, some of which may cause
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ill health, and hyperactivity in children. Don't forget too
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that meat is the cause of the majority of food poisoning
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incidents. In 1991 McDonald's were responsible for an outbreak
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of food poisoning in the UK, in which people suffered serious
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kidney failure.
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MURDERING ANIMALS
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- The menus of the burger chains are based on the torture and
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murder of millions of animals. Most are intensively farmed, with
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no access to fresh air and sunshine, and no freedom of movement.
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Their deaths are barbaric - "humane slaughter" is a myth. We
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have the choice to eat meat or not, but the 750 million animals
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massacred for food in Britain each year have no choice at all.
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EXPLOITING THEIR STAFF
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- Workers in the burger chains are paid low wages. McDonald's do
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not pay overtime rates even when employees work very long hours.
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Pressure to keep profits high and wage costs low results in
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understaffing, so staff have to work harder and faster and as a
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consequence accidents, particularly burns, are common. The
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majority of employees are people who have few job options and so
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are forced to accept this exploitation. Not surprisingly staff
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turnover at McDonald's is high, making it virtually impossible to
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unionise and fight for a better deal, which suits McDonald's who
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have always been opposed to Unions.
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CENSORSHIP and McLIBEL
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- Criticism of McDonald's has come from a huge number of people
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and organisations over a wide number of issues. In the
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mid-eighties London Greenpeace drew together many of those
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strands of criticism and called for an annual World Day of Action
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against McDonald's. This still takes place every year on 16th
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October, with pickets and demonstrations all over the world.
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McDonald's, who spend over one billion dollars every year on
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advertising and promotions, are trying to silence the world-wide
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campaign by threatening legal action against those who speak out.
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Many have been forced to back down because they lacked the money
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to fight a case. But this year, Helen Steel and Dave Morris, two
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supporters of London Greenpeace will defend themselves in a major
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High Court libel trial. No legal aid is available so the unwaged
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environmentalists are representing themselves. McDonald's have
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engaged in a huge cover up, refusing to disclose masses of
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relevant documents. Also, the defendants have been denied their
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right to a jury after McDonald's argued that the issues in the
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case would be "too complex" for members of the public to
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understand. Despite all the cards being stacked against them,
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Helen and Dave are determined to expose the truth. Protests
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against the $24 billion a year fast food giant continue. It's
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vital to stand up to intimidation and to defend free speech.
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WHAT YOU CAN DO
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- Together we can fight back against the institutions and the
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people in power who dominate our lives and our planet, and we can
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create a better society without exploitation. Talk to friends
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and family, neighbours and workmates about these issues. Please
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copy and circulate this leaflet as widely as you can.
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---------------------------------------------------------
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Please send me more info _______ I enclose ______ donation to the
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campaign.
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Name___________________________
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Address_____________________________________________________
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RETURN TO: Greenpeace (London), 5 Caledonian Road, London N1,
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Britain. Tel 071-837 7557; int'l +44-71-837 7557.
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