Environmental Awareness And Sustainability In The Fast Food Industry

Environmental awareness and sustainability has become progressively popular within the food industry. In the last ten years alone, a trend for organic foods and products has increased. Because of this trend, organics is becoming the one of the fastest growing segments of the food industry (Cukan, organicconsumers.org). Many people are beginning to stress the importance of healthy, locally grown foods without hormones or any treatments. Consumers have also become conscious of the contents of their food like fats, sodium, and especially all the unpronounceable ingredients that inhabit food labels. With movies such as “Super Size Me” or “Big Mac”, McDonald’s has garnered this negative image of having greasy and unhealthy foods. We, as a company, need to change this stigma and show the world that we have healthy and sustainable food options. While we have attempted to show our support for this movement with additions to the menu such as wraps and more fruits and vegetables, we need to conduct a complete overhaul to become the new leader in sustainability within the fast food industry (Barriaux, theguardian.com). …show more content…
While McDonald’s utilizes recyclable paper materials, these products still has a negative effect on the environment. Paper itself is not natural resource. Around 93% of paper comes from trees. It has to be produced, and to make paper trees have to be cut down. A single tree can produce enough oxygen for three people to breathe, and to cut down a source of oxygen is only creating a more difficult environment to live in. Paper waste also clogs landfills. It accounts for about 25% of landfill waste and around 33% of municipal waste. If we eliminate the use of paper products in our restaurants, we can help conserve natural resources, save energy, and keep landfill space free for other trash (West,