McDonald’s to Limit Pesticides After Shareholder Action

by James Parks, Apr 1, 2009

In a big win for workers and consumers, McDonald’s Corp., the largest purchaser of potatoes in the United States, has agreed to take steps to reduce pesticides used to produce french fries and other potato products.

The action came in response to a shareholder proposal by three investors, including the AFL-CIO, that would have required McDonald’s to publish a report on options for reducing pesticide use in its supply chain. Under the agreement, the groups—Bard College Endowment, Newground Social Investment and the AFL-CIO Reserve Fund—will withdraw the shareholder resolution they filed jointly.

McDonald’s has agreed to survey its U.S. potato suppliers, compile a list of best practices in pesticide reduction and recommend those best practices to its global suppliers. It also will share its findings with investors and include the findings in its annual corporate social responsibility report.

Farm workers across the country harvesting a wide variety of crops are exposed to dangerous pesticides, often without adequate protective clothing or gear.

Bruce Herbert, CEO of Newground Social Investment, told Reuters:

Because McDonald’s has such a commanding presence in the marketplace, this commitment offers the promise of significant reductions of pesticide use, which will benefit consumer health, as well as farm workers, local agricultural communities and the environment.

The agreement by McDonald’s comes two years after the company reached a groundbreaking agreement with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers to pay a penny more per pound to workers harvesting tomatoes, which means the workers get 72 cents to 77 cents for every 32-pound bucket of tomatoes they pick, up from 40 cents to 45 cents.

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