Rally against McDonald's

By Regan Davis

BRISBANE -- A rally was held on October 16 in King George Square as part of a national anti-McDonald's day. The action was designed to highlight things the golden arches have been getting away with for far too long.

The McLibel trial in Britain, in which McDonald's sued Helen Steel and David Morris for distributing a pamphlet “What's wrong with McDonald's”, focused world attention on the company's record. The pamphlet made connections between the company and poverty in the Third World, and raised issues of animal welfare and environmental destruction.

During the trial it was revealed that some Third World countries are exporting staple crops desperately needed by their people as feed for cattle to be turned into hamburgers in the First World.

McDonald's is the world's largest promoter of meat-based products, the largest user of beef and the second largest user of chicken.

McDonald's and Burger King are two of the many US corporations using poisons to destroy vast areas of Central American rainforest to create grazing pastures for beef cattle.

As well, 2000 sq km of forest a year is needed to keep McDonald's supplied in packaging materials. McDonald's recycles only a tiny proportion of its packaging.

This is just the tip of the iceberg. To find out more, check out the McSpotlight web site at .

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