Hill Day in Washington DC: McDonald’s Presents to Members of Congress

October 18, 2018

As one of the world’s largest restaurant companies, McDonald’s has the responsibility and opportunity to take action on some of the most pressing social and environmental challenges in the world today. We’ve charted a bold course ahead and are making significant strides in our progress to meet meaningful and measureable outcomes.  We call this using our Scale for Good and we are using it to build a better McDonald’s.

McDonald’s experts presented this progress at a briefing on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC, where Members of Congress and staff learned about the company’s sustainability efforts, from charting Science Based Targets to advancing sustainable beef production practices, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and designing more sustainable packaging.

Attendees also heard about our recent announcement that our classic burgers available at our 14,000 U.S. restaurants have no artificial preservatives, no artificial flavors and no added colors from artificial sources. While the pickle contains an artificial preservative, customers are able to skip it if they prefer. These are additions to our food journey that already include the removal of artificial colors and preservatives from Chicken McNuggets and changes to the Happy Meals, offering greater choice to families. 

Educational benefits for crew members and mangers were presented through McDonald’s Archways to Opportunity programming, whereby employees can earn a high school diploma, learn English as a Second Language and receive tuition assistance and educational coaching on their educational path.

McDonald’s experts in attendance included:

  1. Amy Wilcox, Director, Quality Systems, U.S. Supply Chain Management
  2. Cindy Goody, Senior Director – US Marketing – Menu Strategist, Chief Nutritionist
  3. Kendra Levine, Manager, US Supply Chain Sustainability
  4. Lisa Schumacher, Director, Education Strategies
  5. Genna Gent, V.P, U.S. Government Relations

Over the course of the day, we had over 500 members and staff attend including Representatives  Rodney Davis (R-IL), Ron Estes (R-KS), and Raja Krishnamoorthi (D-IL), Danny Davis (D-IL) and Rob Wittman (R-VA).

Prior to the Hill briefing, Representative Danny Davis (D-IL) delivered remarks praising the McDonald’s food journey and educational efforts through Archways to Opportunity.  Representative Davis’ district includes MHQ, and he continues to be an advocate for McDonald’s on the Hill and throughout the Chicagoland area.

McDonald’s embraces the opportunity to drive meaningful progress, and we’ll continue to do so by collaborating with millions of customers, employees, franchisees, suppliers and other partners.  We have an important story to tell and are pleased to have had the opportunity to do so on Capitol Hill.