Praxis Mutual Funds® has co-filed a shareholder proposal at McDonald’s that requests the adoption of an enterprisewide policy to phase out the routine use of medically important antibiotics in its beef and pork supply chains.
The requested policy would include global sourcing targets with timelines, metrics for measuring implementation, and third-party verification.
According to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, 80 percent of all antibiotics used in the United States are given to farm animals. While the therapeutic use of antibiotics for sick individual animals can produce positive outcomes, the routine, supplemental use of antibiotics for all animals concerns scientists.
The World Health Organization says this trend is contributing to an emerging global threat of a post-antibiotic era, where the medicine humans rely on becomes ineffective through overuse in food supply chains.
Praxis and fellow investors have engaged McDonald’s and other fast-food restaurants on antibiotics for over five years in an effort to encourage industrywide action to reduce routine antibiotic use in the meat supply chain. Progress has been made, and Praxis will continue to work on this issue.
McDonald's is held in the Praxis Growth Index Fund, the Praxis Value Index Fund and the Praxis Impact Bond Fund.