The world's largest fast-food chain said Tuesday it wants to help the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) bring together leaders of the global beef industry to help develop market-based standards and move beef production to a more sustainable system.
“McDonald’s is proud to work with stakeholders throughout the beef industry on efforts aimed at addressing sustainability in beef production globally,” said Jessica Droste Yagan, director of Sustainable Supply for McDonald’s Corp, with over 32,000 restaurants in more than 100 countries. “We recognize that beef production has significant impacts on the environment, people, and animals - positive and negative, and believe that all beef production systems can make important contributions towards improved sustainability.”
Other global beef industry giants, including Cargill, Intervet/Schering-Plough Animal Health, and JBS, will convene with WWF and McDonald's, as well as other industry stakeholders, at the The Global Conference on Sustainable Beef, Nov. 1-3 in Denver, Colo.
The first step is to review current sustainability practices and begin to build alignment around key impacts, both positive and negative, of the beef system.
Industry leaders are expected to show up prepared for a constructive dialogue about how to improve industry sustainability by exploring and clarifying the environmental, economic and social impacts of a sustainable beef system.
The goal is to establish a process that may result in developing global voluntary, market-based standards for the beef industry.
Possible next steps following the conference include expanding local multi-stakeholder programs that are economically viable, environmentally sustainable and socially responsible as well as the creation of Regional Sustainable Beef Roundtables to guide the development of standards for sustainable beef production.
“On a finite planet, sustainability is as important to long-term business success as it is for conservation and protecting wildlife,” said Jason Clay, senior vice president of markets at WWF. “By carrying out a dialogue with broad representation of all stakeholders in the global beef system, we can make great strides in expanding best practices and developing strong global standards for sustainable beef production.”
The Conference program, developed to encourage dialogue and build partnerships, will include a series of panel discussions, plenary sessions and breakout meetings.
The conference is currently structured around three key pillars:
1) Science and Research: participants will present research and identify top sustainability production challenges and opportunities;
2) Better Management Practices: participants will share experiences, practices and operations, addressing hurdles and solutions along the way; and
3) Dialogue: participants will work to increase alignment around the key impacts of the beef system and identify approaches that promote sustainable beef practices worldwide.
The conference Web sitee can be found at www.SustainableLivestock.com, where news, program descriptions, outcomes and speaker details will appear leading up to and following the event.
