Value the Meal

Should value mean more than just how much we pay at the register? That’s the question that Corporate Accountability International, an organization that has International, an organization that has compelled corporations from Nestle to General Electric to halt abusive practices, is now asking of the fast food industry.

In the wake of recent studies linking unhealthy diets to shortened life spans and elevated cancer risk, the organization is challenging fast food industry leaders McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s/Arby’s, and Yum! Brands (KFC, Pizza Hut, Taco Bell) to stop aggressively marketing to children, blocking labeling laws, and interfering in public healthy policy.

Corporate Accountability International issued demands in a letter to all four CEOs and is launching a national public education and action campaign called Value [the] Meal. The campaign aims to stem the global tide of diet-related disease, in which fast food giants are playing a central role.

Says executive director, Kelle Louaillier, “McDonald’s and others have reduced the meaning of ‘value’ to how little we pay at the register, ignoring the significant cost to our children’s long-term health and environment. It is about time the fast food industry took responsibility for its role in making our children sick, acting to truly Value [the] Meal, not just to increase sales of ‘value meals.”

(Photo credit: Newscom)