Posted Oct. 30th, 2015 by Barbara Duckworth

EDMONTON — Producers questioned what McDonald’s really meant when it announced last year that it wants beef from sustainable operations.

A list of expectations has now been developed that isn’t as onerous or demanding as first expected, say two Alberta beef producers.

Their operations participated in the pilot verification program, and they shared their experiences at the Livestock Gentec annual meeting in Edmonton Oct. 13.

The Chattaway family of Nanton accepts that consumers want more information about their food.

“I don’t think there is going to be an end to that. They will want to know more and more. We were quite happy to oblige them,” said Morgan Chattaway, a partner in the family owned Bar S Ranch, which runs 1,000 cows on a 100-year-old spread.

“We are proud of our operation and we are not afraid to let people see it.”

​Read the full article here.

Posted Oct. 13th, 2015 by Commodity News Service Canada, Jade Markus

Winnipeg, Oct. 13 – McDonald’s plans to use sustainable beef by 2016 and intends to sourcing at least part of it from Canadian producers.

The fast-food giant’s latest step toward sustainability is to define what exactly that means.
Defining sustainability is important, according to a beef brand officer, because in some cases it’s something consumers want—in increasing amounts—though they don’t necessarily know what it is.

Beef consumers are moving away from traditional definitions when it comes to defining quality, industry experts say.

Consumers used to focus on marbling, but now they look for beef that can be described as wholesome, humanely raised, natural, organic, and grass-fed.

But those words might not be the first that come to mind when consumers think about fast-food.

That could change though, as McDonald’s is planning to use verified sustainable sources starting in 2016, and will be getting a portion of that meat from Canadian producers.

Read the full article here.

By Julienne Isaacs
Chain restaurant rep says McDonald's is committed to Canadian ag's long-term success

Sustainable agriculture must be pre-competitive.” This phrase was repeated several times by Jeffrey Fitzpatrick-Stilwell, McDonald’s Canada’s senior manager for sustainability, during a seminar at the University of Manitoba on September 28.

Fitzpatrick-Stilwell’s lecture, “McDonald’s Perspective on Sustainable Food Systems,” was put on by the Faculty of Agricultural and Food Sciences, and sponsored by the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment (NCLE).
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Canadian McDonald’s restaurants see three million customers per day at 1,400 restaurants nationally. “That’s a lot of people we can talk to about sustainability,” said Fitzpatrick-Stilwell. “One of the things we’re trying to talk to people about is our sourcing practices. All of our products are sourced from Canadian producers. That’s 67 million pounds of beef, 52 million pounds of chicken, and 143 million pounds of potatoes,” he claimed, later correcting his statement to acknowledge that McDonald’s Canada’s pork comes from the U.S. via a bulk purchasing agreement.

​Read the full article here.

Consumers have access to a lot of information, but that information isn’t always helpful

By Shannon VanRaes

When it comes to sustainability, competition isn’t the name of the game.

Speaking at the University of Manitoba during a seminar hosted by the National Centre for Livestock and the Environment, Jeffrey Fitzpatrick-Stilwell of McDonald’s Canada said that efforts to make food production more sustainable need to be “pre-competitive.”
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“We work very collaboratively, not only with our supply chain, but also with our competitors,” explained Fitzpatrick-Stilwell, senior manager of sustainability for the company. “I talk to Tim Hortons, to Starbucks, talk to Burger King, we talk to Wendy’s, we talk to everyone, sharing best practices in the sustainability sphere.”

​Read the full article here.

The fast-food giant expects to have 300 beef operations verified by spring — 
and then it will hand off the initiative to the beef sector
 
​By Alexis Kienlen

McDonald’s Canada will reach its goal of selling “verified sustainable” beef next year, says the company’s senior manager of sustainability.

“We’re right on track as far as we know — it’s hard to know how many producers we’ll be able to get interested and get through, but we’ve got some pretty good numbers now,” said Jeffrey Fitzpatrick-Stilwell.

As of last month, 147 operations had signed up for the verification process, and 35 will complete it by the end of this month. The lion’s share — 105 — are from Alberta, and while most are cow-calf 
producers, there are also feeders, the two big slaughter plants (Cargill’s operation at High River and the JBS plant at Brooks), and McDonald’s burger patty facility at Spruce Grove.

​Read the full article here.

Scored on indicators

Posted Oct. 1st, 2015 by Barbara Duckworth

McDonald’s Canada has released its requirements for sustainable beef production.


The fast food chain has committed to offering beef produced in a sustainable way from Canadian farms by 2016 and has promised to fund the verification process for up to 300 participants.


Only a portion of the Canadian beef served in 2016 will come from verified sustainable operations, said McDonald’s spokesperson Jeffrey Fitzpatrick-Stillwell.


“It will not be a huge quantity that has gone through all those steps,” he said. 


Eventually the corporation wants all its supplies to come from verified sustainable production units including fish, dairy, eggs, oils and fibre used for packaging. 


So far, nearly 150 ranchers and processors have been testing the requirements in a pilot program, and 34 have been verified. Indicators are offered for calf-cow operators, fed cattle and processors.


​Read the full article here.