Fast food chain McDonald’s has developed a “three-part plan for sustainable beef” that will see it begin purchasing the product in 2016. 

Under the plan the chain aims to develop a set of global principles and criteria, as well as targets, for purchasing verified sustainable beef throughout 2014.  

According to the Huffington Post, the McDonald’s corporate website states the purchase of verified sustainable beef poses a challenge as a universal definition of the term has not yet been established.

To raise awareness of the importance of both using and developing a definition for verified sustainable beef, since 2011 McDonald’s has teamed up with a number of other stakeholders.

These include the World Wildlife Fund (WWF), Cargill and JBS – the result being the development of the Global Roundtable for Sustainable Beef (GRSB).

The stakeholders have drafted a set of guiding principles and best practices for sustainable beef, and McDonald’s believes they are of benefit to both the company and beef industry as a whole. 

On its corporate website McDonald’s has established a firm vision that seeks to benefit all those involved in the beef industry.

It reads:

“McDonald’s beef comes from farmers and processors who create economic value and nutritious protein through verifiable and diverse production systems that:

• Optimize cattle’s impact within ecosystems and nutrient cycle.
• Positively impact the lives of their employees and the communities in which they operate.
• Care for the welfare of the cattle throughout their lives.”

Last year research conducted by McDonald’s highlighted beef is a major contributor to the company’s worldwide greenhouse gas emissions. 

“We found that about 70 percent of our greenhouse gas emission impacts are in out supply chain, and of those, around 40 percent are related to beef,” the website reads.