Food Franchises Attacked Again

Simon Lord, Editor

Anyone watching the recent TV3 interview with Eric Schlosser, the author of controversial book Fast Food Nation, might reasonably have wondered what has happened to balanced journalism in this country.

Interviewing Mr Schlosser, John Campbell allowed him to accuse McDonald’s of orchestrating a campaign at government level in the US to discredit him and prevent him from pushing his own point of view in schools. He suggested that conditions for workers in the meat industry had regressed to levels of 100 years ago, and asked why New Zealanders would import processed food from overseas when we have so much good fresh food of our own. Nobody from McDonald’s – or any other food company – was given the opportunity to reply on the programme.

It is not the purpose of Franchise New Zealand to defend the fast food franchises – having worked in the industry myself, I know that there are some less than desirable practices that go on. But talking about the Campbell Live segment afterwards with my son, we noted a few interesting omissions. First, Mr Schlosser was clearly being interviewed in Sydney, suggesting that he had not actually visited New Zealand or done much research into the situation here. Second, he produced no hard evidence to support his claims about McDonald’s supposed manipulations. Third, in talking about how the meat industry’s use of illegal immigrants for its labour allowed it to operate with little regard for safety, he was generalising to New Zealand from a specifically US experience. And fourth, his assumption that New Zealand imports the ingredients for its fast food franchises seemed somewhat wide of the mark – most will use local ingredients wherever possible.

With a Health Select Committee investigating obesity in this country, the food franchises are currently attracting more than their fair share of flak. That’s the down-side of developing a well-known brand – any editor knows that a story headed ‘McDonald’s makes kids fat’ is going to be read by far more people than a story headed ‘Fish & chips makes kids fat’ – which is one reason why we read stories like this one from the New Zealand Herald. No mention of local dairies selling chocolate and chippies just round the corner, I note.

But as the cover story in the latest issue of Franchise New Zealand magazine shows, the food franchises are in many cases actually in the forefront of offering healthier menu options. That’s not because the general public is demanding it but because they have sensed the change and need to ensure that their franchisees aren’t left behind. As a result, they are developing alternative products and methods some way ahead of the time when they will become truly profitable. What a pity that the media don’t make headlines out of those initiatives, too.