Farming Monthly National January 2015

| On Topic On Topic BASF's Jonathan Ball Connor McVeigh, Director of Supply Chain, McDonald’s UK, said: “As one of the biggest customers of British and Irish farming, we care about the future success of the industry. We want to play our part by helping to cultivate the best of British farming talent. To us, this means creating opportunities for new talent to have access to the most progressive farmers and latest technology, which includes young people with and without farming backgrounds to consider a career in agriculture. The Progressive Young Farmer training Programme is one of the ways we’re committed to using our scale to make this a reality.” Jennifer Diment, one of McDonald’s current Progressive Young Farmers, commented: “One of the main challenges facing young people looking to go into farming today is the breadth of knowledge required. As well as agricultural expertise, a modern farmer needs to have business skills and understand what consumers want. It’s definitely a great career option with lots of opportunities. It’s fantastic to be given a leg up through McDonald’s Progressive Young Farmer training Programme.” Farm Forward is McDonald’s long-term commitment to help secure a sustainable future for British and Irish Farming. It aims to address some of the challenges facing the sector, such as an ageing workforce, built around five core commitments: championing quality ingredients; improving animal welfare; providing work and training opportunities for young farmers; promoting environmental improvements on farms; and encouraging knowledge sharing within the industry. Food Sourcing • McDonald’s spends £851 million with the UK food and agriculture sector each year, including on 100% British and Irish beef, free-range eggs, Freedom Food pork from British farms and organic milk from UK dairies. • 100% of McDonald’s beef is sourced from more than 16,000 British and Irish farmers. • McDonald’s only uses whole cuts of British and Irish beef, sourced from traceable, quality-assured farms. It doesn’t use any binders, fillers or trimmings in its burgers. • All McDonald’s burgers are made from 100% beef with nothing added except a pinch of salt and pepper after cooking. • In April 2013, McDonald’s became the first high street restaurant chain to serve 100% Freedom Food pork across its entire UK menu. This means all sausage and bacon products served are from British farms that meet the RSPCA’s strict welfare standards. • In November 2013, McDonald’s won a Compassion in World Farming ‘Good Sow Commendation’ in recognition of its commitment to improve the welfare of breeding sows. • Since 2007, McDonald’s has been using organic semi-skimmed milk from UK dairies in all of its teas, coffees, Happy Meal milk bottles and porridge. • All the whole milk used in milkshakes and sundaes is sourced from British and Irish farms. • In 2007 McDonald’s won a Compassion in World Farming ‘Good Egg Award’. • McDonald’s UK uses free-range eggs produced to the Lion Quality Code of Practice or equivalent. • McDonald’s won the RSPCA Good Business Award in 2008 and again in 2009 for its long term commitment to improving animal welfare. Overall McDonald’s has won four RSPCA five awards in nine years. • In 2013, over 5,000 hectares of UK farmland grew potatoes for our French Fries, Hash Browns and Potato Rosti. • McDonald’s serves Rainforest Alliance© certified coffee. • In 2014, Raymond Blanc awarded McDonald’s UK his 2014 Sustainability Hero award in recognition of the significant contribution the company has made towards improving the sustainability of the British food industry. www.farmingmonthly.co.uk As a major customer of produce from British and Irish farming, McDonald’s sources quality ingredients from over 17,500 British and Irish farmers. Through Farm Forward, it is building on its existing support for British and Irish farming with a series of individual projects built around five core commitments: • We’re passionate about serving great tasting food made with quality ingredients, so we’ll support and champion British and Irish farmers’ quality produce. • We’re committed to continually improving animal welfare within our supply chain and we buy from British and Irish farmers who continuously strive to raise welfare standards on their farms. • We need more young British and Irish farmers. Young people need more support in today’s competitive jobs market, and so we’ll create opportunities that help them get into farming. • Like the farmers who supply our ingredients, we care about looking after the countryside so we’ll help British and Irish farmers make environmentally-friendly improvements on their farms. • We’ll use the reach of our business to help share knowledge between farmers. Through this knowledge sharing, we’ll help farmers – who often have limited contact with the people who buy their produce at the till – keep their busine

Farming Monthly National January 2015 | Page 11