mcdonalds | Be a Seed for Change

McDonald’s wants you to “see what we’re made of.” Brace yourself.

The pork in your Egg McMuffin or McRib comes from pigs, of course. What you may not know is that those pigs are birthed by female “breeding” pigs who lead miserable lives, to put it mildly. They live in impossibly small enclosures called “gestation crates,” in which the pigs can barely move. These dirty, restrictive enclosures frequently cause pigs to become covered in sores, open wounds, and infections.

It doesn’t have to be that way: Burger King and Wendy’s have completely phased out gestation crates from their pork supply. Now it’s up to McDonald’s to do the same.

McDonald’s has the power to push its pork suppliers to eliminate gestation crates and improve the lives of female breeding pigs. Please add your name to the petition asking McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner to ensure McDonald’s pork suppliers stop using gestation crates.

McDonald’s has paid lip service to freeing pigs from gestation crates; in 2007, the company even said moving away from these unnecessary enclosures was “at the top of its agenda.” Five years later, pigs at Smithfield Foods, where McDonald’s buys its pork, are still in gestation grates.

McDonald’s is the biggest customer of Smithfield Foods, the largest pork producer in the world. While Smithfield initially pledged to eliminate gestation crates entirely by 2017, the pork processing corporation went back on its promise in 2009.

Smithfield Foods initially blamed the poor economy for indefinitely sticking its pigs in cramped quarters. Yet now Smithfield is posting record profits, meaning the company can recommit to phasing out gestation crates by 2017.

Meredith Slater started a petition on Change.org asking McDonald’s CEO Jim Skinner to pressure Smithfield to renew its promise and completely phase out gestation crates by 2017. Click here to sign Meredith’s petition to bring McDonald’s in line with the rest of the fast food industry:

http://www.change.org/petitions/mcdonalds-stop-using-pork-from-abused-pigs

Thanks for being a change-maker,

– Michael and the Change.org team

Let’s say you’re the CEO of McDonald’s. You know kids love to eat your food, but their pesky teachers keep telling them it’s not healthy. Don’t worry! You have options.

Scholastic (the company that publishes tons of children’s books) has a program where companies like McDonald’s, the American Coal Foundation, and SunnyD can pay to have teachers teach kids about their products to create “brand awareness” and “consumer loyalty.”

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-scholastic-stop-pushing-corporate-pr-in-classrooms?utm_source=action_alert&utm_medium=email&alert_id=XjZTygzXWR_JMKqNQJEBS

It’s called Scholastic InSchool Marketing –– and it has nothing to do with education.

Here’s how the program works: A corporation gives Scholastic a pile of money. In turn, Scholastic creates a curriculum designed to further “client interests,” cleverly masked as actual learning opportunities for students. (For example, Scholastic sometimes says these materials will help improve students’ scores on standardized tests.)

According to Scholastic, this program reaches more than 66,000 classrooms.

Some terrific groups (including the Campaign for a Commercial-Free Childhood and Rethinking Schools) are fighting hard to end Scholastic InSchool Marketing. This week, they had a big win when Scholastic agreed to stop selling its “United States of Energy” curriculum (paid for by the American Coal Foundation) which teaches 4th graders about the benefits of coal while hiding all the risks to public health.

Momentum is on their side. Now it’s time to stop this practice for good. Sign the petition today to tell Scholastic to end its insidious InSchool Marketing division:

http://www.change.org/petitions/tell-scholastic-stop-pushing-corporate-pr-in-classrooms

Thanks for taking action,

– Patrick and the Change.org team