Green Sourcing for McDonald's French Fries: Recommendations
This paper examines McDonald's current sourcing practices for French fries and identifies significant environmental and public health concerns associated with those practices. It highlights the heavy use of toxic pesticides on Russet Burbank potatoes, the health risks posed by several French fry ingredients, and the reputational and legal risks McDonald faces for failing to adopt sustainable procurement. The paper then provides targeted recommendations for implementing a green sourcing process, including collaborating with potato farmers to adopt biopesticides and integrated pest management, mandating green supplier development, and aligning procurement with triple bottom line principles. The recommendations draw on supply chain sustainability literature to support the business case for greener sourcing.
- Introduction: Overview of McDonald's scale and sourcing problem
- Current Sourcing Process for French Fries: Ingredients list and current potato procurement practices
- Environmental and Health Concerns: Pesticide drift, toxic ingredients, and health risks
- Risks of Unsustainable Procurement: Reputational, financial, and legal risks of inaction
- Recommendations for Green Sourcing: Biopesticides, IPM, and supplier development strategies
- Conclusion: Summary of findings and restatement of recommendations
✍️ How to write this paper — guide, tools & examples ▾
What makes this paper effective
- The paper follows a clear problem-solution structure: it first diagnoses McDonald's unsustainable sourcing practices with specific data (e.g., 3.4 billion pounds of potatoes, 50,000 acres sprayed every five days) before moving to actionable recommendations.
- It grounds its recommendations in peer-reviewed supply chain literature, citing authors such as Blome, Hollos, and Paulraj (2014) and Meehan and Bryde (2011), which adds academic credibility to a practical business topic.
- The paper connects environmental issues to business risk — including reputational and financial consequences — making the sustainability argument relevant to a corporate decision-making audience.
Key academic technique demonstrated
The paper demonstrates applied literature synthesis: it integrates multiple academic sources not merely to summarize them but to build a cumulative argument for why McDonald's must change its procurement model. Each cited source adds a distinct layer — legal pressure, reputational risk, supplier development, or biological pest control — showing how to use secondary sources purposefully rather than decoratively.
Structure breakdown
The paper opens with a brief introduction establishing McDonald's scale and the scope of the problem. A current-state analysis section documents existing sourcing practices and their environmental and health consequences. A dedicated risk section frames the business stakes. The recommendations section is the longest and most detailed, covering biopesticides, low-toxicity alternatives, integrated pest management, and supplier communication strategies. A short conclusion recaps the findings and restates the recommendation. The reference list follows APA formatting conventions.
Introduction
McDonald's is a global fast-food chain and one of the largest in the world, serving more than 68 million customers daily. The company operates 36,658 outlets across 119 countries. Its major menu items include French fries, cheeseburgers, hamburgers, chicken products, breakfast items, desserts, milkshakes, and soft drinks. McDonald's French fries are among the most famous in the world, produced from premium potato varieties — Shepody and Russet Burbank. The company's fries account for approximately one-third of all French fries sold in the United States. In recent years, however, McDonald's has faced criticism for its failure to follow green procurement initiatives when sourcing the ingredients used to prepare its French fries.
The purpose of this paper is to provide recommendations to assist McDonald's in completing a Green Sourcing process for its French fries. The paper first examines the company's current sourcing practices, then offers step-by-step recommendations for implementing a sustainable green sourcing process for French fry production.
Current Sourcing Process for French Fries
McDonald's French fries are prepared with the following ingredients:
While McDonald's has portrayed its French fries as the most famous in the world, there are notable shortcomings in the company's unsustainable sourcing process for these ingredients. Potatoes are the primary ingredient. Each year, McDonald's purchases over 3.4 billion pounds of potatoes across the United States. The company prefers the Russet Burbank potato variety; however, this variety is susceptible to rot and other diseases, leaving farmers little choice but to apply significant quantities of pesticides to protect their crops. Rural communities in Minnesota living near potato farms are frequently exposed to pesticide drift — chemicals and sprays blown by wind from the potato fields.
Nearly 98% of the 50,000 acres of potatoes grown in Northern Minnesota are sprayed with chemicals and pesticides every five days to prevent fungal disease. The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) defines pesticide drift as the off-target movement of pesticide-laden particles carried by wind from the application site. A quality test conducted between 2006 and 2009 revealed that some pesticides contained carcinogens such as pendimethalin and chlorothalonil, which can disrupt children's nervous system development and put farm workers at risk of developing abnormally shaped sperm.
Environmental and Health Concerns
McDonald's procurement practices are not sustainable because the pesticides used in potato cultivation have negative impacts on both human and animal health. Pesticide drift also creates ecological damage that results in economic loss. The EPA estimates that approximately 70 million pounds of pesticides are wasted annually due to pesticide drift. Thousands of people lodge complaints with local and state agencies about pesticide drift each year. While McDonald's has defended the use of pesticides on the grounds of potato quality, groups such as the Toxic Taters Coalition have accused McDonald's and potato growers of contaminating the environment. The coalition urges McDonald's to mandate that potato suppliers significantly reduce their use of toxic pesticides and adopt sustainable green agricultural practices.
Beyond the unsustainable sourcing of potatoes, McDonald's also falls short of sustainable procurement standards for other French fry ingredients. Most canola oil used today is genetically modified. Hydrogenated soybean oil is extracted through a process that makes it more saturated and less healthy for human consumption. Safflower oil, another ingredient, is heated to high temperatures and may cause inflammation in the body. The natural flavor added to French fries may potentially contain monosodium glutamate, a substance affecting the brain and nervous system. Sodium acid pyrophosphate, used to maintain the color of the fries, may be hazardous if ingested in significant quantities. TBHQ (tert-butylhydroquinone) has been linked to stomach ulcers, and hydrogenated soybean oil has been associated with DNA damage, heart disease, and cancer when consumed over long periods.
Conclusion
McDonald's is the major seller of French fries in the United States. While the company boasts of providing high-quality French fries to consumers, an analysis of McDonald's procurement practices reveals that the company does not follow greener procurement methods when sourcing the ingredients used to prepare its French fries. Potatoes are grown using toxic pesticides that pose risks to human health, and several other French fry ingredients also raise health concerns. This paper recommends that McDonald's collaborate with suppliers and mandate that they meet greener environmental requirements. Adopting this approach — including the use of biopesticides, integrated pest management training, and green supplier development — will assist McDonald's in completing a comprehensive Green Sourcing process for its French fries and position the company for stronger reputational and financial performance in the long term.
References
Birkin, F., Polesie, T., & Lewis, L. (2009). A new business model for sustainable development: An exploratory study using the theory of constraints in Nordic organizations. Business Strategy and the Environment, 18(5), 277–290.
Blome, C., Hollos, D., & Paulraj, A. (2014). Green procurement and green supplier development: Antecedents and effects on supplier performance. International Journal of Production Research, 52(1), 32–49.
ESRC. (2008). Biological alternatives to chemical pesticides. ScienceDaily. Economic & Social Research Council.
Greaves, J. (2015). Biopesticides, regulatory innovation & the regulatory state. University of Warwick.
Jens, K. R., Johanne, G., & Stefan, U. H. (2014). Reputational risks and sustainable supply chain management: Decision-making under bounded rationality. International Journal of Operations & Production Management, 34(5), 695–719.
Mark, P., Zhaohui, W., Michael, W. E., et al. (2010). Thinking differently about purchasing portfolios: An assessment of sustainable sourcing. Journal of Supply Chain Management, 46(1), 57–73.
Meehan, J., & Bryde, D. (2011). Sustainable procurement practice. Business Strategy and the Environment, 20, 94–106.
SP-IPM. (2006). Biological alternatives to harmful chemical pesticides. IPM Research Brief No. 4. International Institute of Tropical Agriculture.
Create your account
Always verify citation format against your institution’s current style guide requirements.