I'm Lovin' It!
Headline in UK newspaper The Guardian regarding the decision of the McDonalds Corporation to add apple items to its menu -- In a strategic effort to change it's (sic) image McDonalds is now spreading its destructive grasps (sic) over other industries and other parts of the world.
Money quote: "The chain’s influence could alter for ever the method and scale of production, the varieties of apple produced, and the rights of the thousands of workers who pick them, and not necessarily for the better."
I'm sure if they were to actually interview people from the Washington State apple orchards, they'd hear whoops and hollers of glee. This is terrific news for the apple growers here in Washington State, not to mention the economy of Washington State as a whole, and all The Guardian can do is sniff about McDonalds' so-called "destructive" grasp.
The article goes on to whine that the demands of the McDonalds Corporation for "a uniform product" (or, consistency in production methods, standards and outcome) will somehow wipe out consumer choice in apple varieties . . . as if red delicious, golden delicious and granny smith varieties will somehow vanish from grocery store shelves once McDonalds casts its gloomy pall of corporate influence over the apple growing industry.
McDonalds has already cast that same "destructive" pall over the potato growing industry and the beef and poultry industries, yet I can still find at least six different types of potatoes on my grocer's shelves (purple, red, baby, baking, fingerling and yams) and the butcher's case displays beef and chicken of all different types, grades and nationalities, not to mention the inclusion of buffalo, lamb, duck, turkey, pheasant and more, none of which McDonalds presently offers here in the United States.
If this array of quality and choice in my local supermarket is the result of McDonalds "destructive grasps" across the food production chain, then I say, "McDonalds wants apples, and lots of them? Bring it on!"