McDonald's gets a warning from New York's pension fund over chickens

[TexasTowelie]

McDonald's has long been on the receiving end of calls to take better care of its chickens. Earlier this month, actors and musicians including Kristen Bell, Joan Jett and Weird Al Yankovic have lent their names to demands for more humane treatment.

Now there's a new name on that list, and it carries a lot more weight. In a letter dated Aug. 22, 2018 obtained by Bloomberg News, New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli expressed concerns over the "potential financial and reputational risks associated with McDonald's chicken welfare practices."

DiNapoli was writing in his capacity as trustee of the New York State Common Retirement Fund, the third-largest public pension fund in the U.S. and-as of July 31-holder of more than $300 million in McDonald's stock.

The warning, addressed to McDonald's Chairman Enrique Hernandez, Jr. and CEO Stephen Easterbrook, follows a broad media campaign by the Humane Society of the United States, including a television ad running in McDonald's hometown of Chicago and a letter with 20 celebrity signatories. They all urge the restaurant giant to follow competitors such as Burger King and Subway in making "modest reforms" to its chicken welfare policies, including transitioning to more humane breeds and slaughter practices.

Read more: https://gazette.com/business/mcdonald-s-gets-a-warning-from-new-york-s-pension/article_b3d105dc-bdc3-11e8-8cf2-0f7a9fed6548.html

[Bayard]

1. McDonalds doesn't raise chickens

They have these huge industrial producers raise chickens for them. My husband works for a subcontractor to one such company that produces only eggs. These operations are mind-boggling, gigantic. Barn after barn of millions of chickens running around. They pop back into cages to lay eggs, and then come back out to re-join the party. So the eggs can be designated, "cage-free".

I think the more humane breeds they are talking about are birds that aren't freaks. Ones that are bred to have such huge breasts, they can hardly stand up, and to mature very quickly. The sooner to go to slaughter.

These producers are doing what their corporate clients demand. If they insist on cage-free, then that's what they get. If they demand the materials to make big chicken sandwiches, then producers will breed chicken freaks.