Many of McDonald’s biggest competitors, including Burger King and Subway, have pledged to ban some of the cruelest practices inflicted on animals. But McDonald’s has refused to do the same.
This week, vegans and carnivores alike are rejoicing as Burger King launches the Impossible Whopper, a plant-based version of its most famous sandwich. And Burger King isn’t alone; fast-food chains are adding plant-based burgers and similar items to their menus left and right.
From the Beyond Burger at Carl’s Jr. and the Impossible Burger at White Castle, to plant-based sausage at Little Caesar’s and Dunkin’ to ground plant-based beef at Del Taco, food businesses are giving the people what they want: delicious, indulgent plant-based goodness. In the United Kingdom, even KFC has launched a vegan chicken sandwich.
But the biggest fast-food Goliath is missing from this list: McDonald’s.
McDonald’s has flirted with vegan food offerings in other countries, but it’s yet to commit to putting something on the menu in the U.S., even as its competitors are leading the way. In fact, the lag between McDonald’s and restaurants like Burger King is so noticeable that a Change.org petition asking McDonald’s to add plant-based protein to the menu now has more than 225,000 signatures.
However, even more people — 304,000 to be exact — are calling on McDonald’s to improve its animal welfare practices. This is yet another issue of social responsibility in which McDonald’s lags behind, and it’s time they catch up.
As the co-founder of Farm Sanctuary, the farm animal sanctuary and advocacy organization, you’d think I would have little in common with leaders at companies like McDonald’s, but the world is smaller than you think.