It is surprising how often the food industry has featured in the two-year life of the Laundromat so far. It is responsible for mountains of packaging waste, a global health and obesity crisis, the persistent production and use of petrochemicals and plastics, huge amounts of deforestation and biodiversity loss, and so many greenhouse gas emissions that we could all stop using fossil fuels overnight and still breach the 1.5-degree warming limit. It also boasts lobbying power to rival that of the oil companies, as revealed in a recent NordSIP ESGpresso Lungo podcast in which the head of Zero Waste Europe described McDonald’s lobbyists following European Union legislators into the toilets while loudly haranguing them to soften packaging waste regulations.
Much of the above, along with copious amounts of greenwashing, is being perpetrated by companies that sit quietly in many large institutional asset owners’ portfolios. A quick look at the equity holdings of public pension funds shows the likes of MacDonald’s, PepsiCo, Nestlé and Coca Cola along with lesser-known but equally powerful companies such as multinational meat producers. A week from now Nestlé will be kicking off its Annual General Meeting while facing a shareholder rebellion at its continued peddling of ultra-processed junk food despite claiming to “unlock the power of food to enhance quality of life for everyone, today and for generations to come.” The Swiss food giant is also accused of selling tap water as pristine mineral water and is consistently in the Top 3 Worst Plastic Polluters. The shareholder resolution put forward by five large institutional investors urges the company to use its dominant market position to improve access to healthy food choices rather than its current policy of selling a majority of highly processed branded snacks high in fat, salt, and sugar.
Have a Break Don’t Have a KitKat
Ultra-processed foods (UPF) like Nestlé’s are estimated to make up around 57% of the average diet in the UK. The figure increases to 80% for children and lower income individuals, a symptom of the so-called “food deserts” that characterise poorer areas. The latter phenomenon means that many people simply cannot choose to cook healthier meals due to a lack of suitable fresh ingredients. This leads to a vicious circle of health problems that not only affects quality of life of the individuals concerned but also the whole economy in the form of ballooning health care costs and a loss of productivity.
Dubai’s COP28 was the first time that food systems had been specifically addressed at a global climate conference, with a full day dedicated to the topic and a suitably grand sounding COP28 UAE Declaration on Agriculture, Food Systems and Climate Action endorsed by 152 countries. Unfortunately, just as the Saudis were delighted with the COP28 outcome on fossil fuels, last week US meat industry executives were expressing smug satisfaction with the COP28 declaration on food systems. Great! Let’s celebrate by throwing some burgers on the grill! Speaking of which, let’s go back to those political toilet-botherers at McDonald’s.
SuperSize lobbying
As explained in detail during NordSIP’s podcast conversation with Zero Waste Europe founder Joan Marc Simon, the run-up to the approval of the proposed Packaging and Packaging Waste Regulation (PPWR) was the scene of previously unheard-of levels of aggressive lobbying by the food and packaging industries. McDonald’s and fellow junk food giants Coca Cola and PepsiCo are the source of 39% of the UK’s packaging litter. According to Simon, while aggressive lobbying towards EU legislators is fairly common, McDonald’s stood out in crossing the line into potentially illegal practices. Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) were systematically leafleted with materials referencing an “independent” study that purported to demonstrate the greater sustainability credentials of single-use paper packaging versus reusable containers.  The report turned out to have been commissioned and funded by a mysterious benefactor, a certain Ronald McDonald. With the clown having failed to declare any conflicts of interest, no underlying data shared, and no peer reviewing having been done the report was debunked by a group of more than fifty independent academics.
As often happens with greenwashing and the associated well-funded corporate disinformation campaigns, once the truth comes out it is too late to undo the damage. Listeners to the podcast will have learned that the proposed paper-based packaging is unrecyclable, given that it also contains plastics and is typically soiled when thrown away. The watered-down proposals mean that McDonald’s and its junk food buddies will be free to continue their impressive contribution to the 80 million tonne annual EU packaging waste mountain, while protecting their precious profit margins at the planet’s expense. We’re Not Lovin’ It!
