McDonald’s scraps composting program because food won’t decompose

[ensho]

http://www.grist.org/article/2010-04-01-mcdonalds-scraps-composting-program-food-decompose


McDonald's announced this morning that it would discontinue plans for a worldwide composting initiative after scientists confirmed that no item on the McDonald's menu is compostable.

The plan to keep food waste -- more than 1.5 billion tons a month -- out of landfills would have been the largest composting program in the world, with bright green composting bins at all the 31,000-plus restaurants around the world.

But McDonald's halted the plan after scientists at the University of California-Berkeley discovered that none of the items on the McDonald's menu would compost in the next 500 years, nor would any start breaking down for an estimated 1,000 years, -- the projected life span of a plastic bag.

"To be honest, this food is better off in a landfill." said lead researcher Donald MacGregor, from the University of California-Berkeley, on a press call early this morning. "It would get in the way of perfectly good compostable materials. Additionally, gardeners disliked the highly acidic leaching of the non-composting Big Macs in field tests."

McDonald's says it has no plans to reconsider the idea. However, company officials will be considering other waste management options, such as incineration and outer-atmospheric storage.
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outer-atmospheric storage?

is food that will not decompose real rood?

and I'm sick to death of paying too much money for tomatoes that will not ripen and when sliced open are white inside. (are the small tomatoes that come attached to the vine real toms? anybody know?)

[HereSince1628]

1. happy april fools day

[coffeenap]

2. April Fool's??

:hi:

[tridim]

3. April Fools..

But I do agree that their fries never decompose.

Every time I've given a McD fry to my dog she throws it up about a minute later.

[Newsjock]

4. The tiny nugget of truth behind this one

From March 17:
http://consumerist.com/2010/03/this-1-year-old-happy-meal-has-aged-surprisingly-well.html

Have you ever wondered what a McDonald's Happy Meal looks like after it's sat on a shelf (not in a freezer) for a year? This seems like one of those things I would learn accidentally, but writer Nonna Joann Bruso decided to find out on purpose.

The results? Not as disgusting as you might think, which itself is sort of disgusting.

[LiberalFighter]

10. They would probably get the same result if the items were home cooked.

[baldguy]

12. Here's a pic:

And this cheeseburger is four years old:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4IGtDPG4UfI

[closeupready]

5. I have the feeling that they put tons of MSG in their food.

n/t

[KansDem]

6. I quit eating at McDonald's in the mid-1970s

Primarily because of its advertising and comments made during that time by its CEO, Ray Kroc.

The phrase, "Kroc of Shit," took on a whole new meaning for me during the 1970s...

[fascisthunter]

7. if you can, don't eat at McDonald's

the shit is poison...

To test my statement, don't eat the crap for a month, then go back and order something. You should feel sick after doing so...

[ixion]

8. well, when you make 'food' from plastic

there isn't much to compost.

[FirstLight]

9. now my tummy hurts

:puke:

I can't bring myself to think if this is real or fabricated...it sure feels right on.

that's IT, we are done with the drive thru for good!

[depakid]

11. The best April fools gags always have a grain of truth to them...

[HopeHoops]

14. What makes you think it is a joke? Well, other than the date.

They've dug up hot dogs from landfills that were buried 50 years earlier and are basically indistinguishable from a "fresh" one. McD's offerings aren't "food", so why would you expect them to compost?

[semillama]

18. Because there's a difference between the environment of a compost pile and a landfill

Stick a hot dog in your compost pile and come back at the end of the month and see if it still looks fresh to you. Completely different processes (or lack thereof) going on in a landfill, where basically you have things sealed away in an anaerobic environment.

And as for the whole "happy meal on a shelf for a year" - one plausible explanation is that if the happy meal was stored in a cool, dry place with few contaminants, then you could end up with mummified food. Kinda like the dried squirrels you often find in chimneys.

[HopeHoops]

13. The "on-the-vine" ones are real, and better than the pithy pink ones.

They are still "hothouse" grown, but they're the closest thing you can get to a tomato until your own plants start to produce REAL ones. I can't stand the pithy pink excuse for a tomato that fast food and chain restaurants use. Bleah.

The on-the-vine ones can be way overpriced. Fortunately, my family-owned grocery store usually has them at a decent price. Forget the big mega-chain stores - they'll gouge you on those just like they do on everything else.

[ensho]

15. thanks for the info - I wish I could raise some plants but I have very

little sun where I live now.

in a past life I always had a big veg. garden. which I dearly miss.

[HopeHoops]

16. Yeah, tomatoes sort of need that sun. Many herbs do well in low-light and containers!

I put in a 16'x4' raised herb bed last year. Need some St. Johns Wort? The shit is taking over!

Anyway, you should be able to keep a chive colony going in a container just about anywhere. We're still dividing colonies that started with one small 2" pot in NH about 15 years ago. Parsley can do well in low light but it will get a little long and spindly. Oregano grows anywhere. Basil does well in artificial light.

If you have an overhang that gets sun (but not the floor surface), you can get a kit that is basically a 5 gal bucket with holes in the bottom. The tomato plants grow down through the holes and you water from the top. I've seen those with a lot of fruit on them but never tried one myself. I've got a lot of garden space right now.

[My Good Babushka]

17. These McDonald's threads are becoming a permanent fixture

If you fry any food, then let it dry out. You've taken out the water, replaced it with oil, and essentially, mummified it.
That being said, no one should eat "regularly" at McDonalds.