Who says pressure doesn't pay off?
Advocates of ethical business will be raising a cup of fair trade coffee this week after a decision by McDonalds'UK to purchase, serve and (essentially) promote ethically sourced coffee.
Steve Easterbrook, president of McDonald's UK, said in an interview with The Independent, that the coffee deal would "transform the market for sustainably grown coffee in the UK."
You better believe it will.
The fact is protests, pressure and persistence really do pay off when it comes to pushing the market towards sustainable and socially just practices. How do we know this? Through decisions made by corporations, such as McDonald's UK. While anti-globalists may not cheer this decision, those that weight fair trade and sustainable living (over and above loss of culture) will be putting another notch in their belt due to this recent decision. And with good reason. Since the 1950s -- when the term human rights became a standard phrase in domestic and international affairs -- the notion of ethical decision making has grown and blossomed. While the majority of multinational corporations still have a long way to go in aligning their economic practices with social justice, the gap does decrease when larger, more prominent (and arguably a large influence on the market type) businesses, such as McDonald's publically acknowledges the importance of social justice by changing their corporate policy.
While we may not all rush out to purchase a cup of "careful this is hot" brew at Micky-D's -- we can rest assured that a multinational has, in some small way, confirmed that market economies can be aligned with social justice values.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
Yeah, it's rather blatant, when a 'big' company starts peddling green (or the like), that they're just horning in on progressive movements; the tell is that they usually continue to also produce/practice their usual, offending items/ways. The 'organic' section at the market, so long as it's its own section or is offered as an 'alternative', remains a token gesture. The quandary for progressives is whether to encourage these goods/services by voting with the dollar, or to reject half-assed attempts at sustainability (e.g. just go without bananas entirely... poo to you, Del Monte).
On a side note, I haven't eaten McDonald's for about 8 years, partly as a specific protest and partly as a larger rejection of cheaply produced, questionable food. That Fair Trade coffee has been available for years means that McD is way behind the curve, despite whatever kudos they might earn for finally doing this one thing.
As long as I can still sue them for making it too hot and for creating a anvil sized (and shaped) lump of undigested cow flesh in my colon that's ok by me!
Post a Comment