by: Courtney Remacle
Most of us know that the effects of climate change have been and will continue to be serious and far-reaching. For the average consumer, however, climate change may not seem to be affecting their day-to-day lives. However, a recent change to the menu of McDonald’s, of all places, demonstrates that the consequences of climate change will impact all of us, from the individual all the way up to the mega-corporation.
The buzz this past has week has been that McDonald’s is nixing their staple “Dollar Menu” and replacing it with the “Dollar Menu & More” which will include items that cost up to $2. This change is driven in large part by a rise in wholesale prices of commodities, mainly cattle in this case, caused by rising temperatures which have led to drought.
Image via qz.com
McDonald’s has been hailed as “the most bountiful food in human history” due to their dollar menu supplying a relatively high number of calories at an extremely low cost. However, as weather patterns continue to change and global temperatures rise, it seems as though that won’t be the case forever.
The paradox of this story is that while the effects of climate change seem to be bad for McDonald’s bottom line, the McDonald’s model of food production and consumption actively contributes to climate change. The extremely low prices offered by McDonalds-and almost every corporation currently in existence, mean that many of their costs are externalized rather than being absorbed the company or passed on to the consumer. McDonald’s and the consumers of their products do not pay a premium for the methane produced by their beef cattle, the clearing of rainforests for the ranching of said cattle, the ecological damage of monocropping and industrial food production, and the production and use of cheap packaging that ends up littering our communities or sitting in landfills. The irony of this is that the externalities that have allowed McDonald’s to be so successful are contributing to the volatile climate that might bring about its ruin. To learn more about the cannibalistic nature of this model, The Story of Stuff is a good place to start.
You can read more about the rationale behind the recent changes to the Dollar Menu here, and about the negative consequences of McDonald’s business model here.