On my two-mile drive down Long Beach Boulevard from the train station today, I passed four reminders from McDonald's that I should be drinking its coffee. That would be three McDonald's restaurants telling me "Now serving McCafe" and enticing me with giant posters of mocha lattes topped with whipped cream, plus a billboard in case I missed the ads plastered across the stores. I think McDonald's really wants us to buy its "specialty" espresso drinks.
Even I am not immune to the powers of good marketing (the commercials are funny). Last week I decided to try a McCafe because if it tasted good but was cheaper than Starbucks or another coffee chain, then it would be a good option. I went through the drive-thru and ordered a small iced latte. I shouldn't have been surprised that in McDonald's super-sized world, a small would be 16 ounces of seriously strong coffee. It was so potent I saved half for the next day, which did make the $3 price a good deal, although it wasn't as cheap as I expected (iced drinks are more expensive; their hot lattes are cheaper).
Then the very next day, after I'd enjoyed my day-old latte, I read an article in the Los Angeles Times about McDonald's coffee investment and I felt bad about supporting what will likely lead to an increase in milk consumption, if McDonald's gamble pays off. The article quoted a dairy expert saying, "When per capita milk consumption rose in 2006 for the first time in 20 years, McDonald's was a prime reason." Why? McDonald's had started offering milk in plastic containers, which became so popular that other fast-food chains followed its lead. "The dairy industry is counting on the same sort of effect from McDonald's espresso coffee drinks," the article said, and then had this shocking statistic, "which can contain up to 80 percent milk." If (let's be real ... when) McCafes become popular, that's a lot of milk -- 1 1/2 cups for a 16-ounce drink. That means a lot of milk production, which is not good for the environment (cows are a source of methane pollution, plus concerns over the amount of water used on dairy farms).
But when I made this argument to my coworker, she played devil's advocate and said "So are poor people not allowed to buy coffee but rich people who can afford Starbucks can?" No, of course not. I know that Starbucks and other coffee chains have led to more people drinking coffee and thus consuming more milk, but my concern with McDonald's is that it's even more pervasive in our culture and its coffee is cheaper, which could lead to people buying coffee more often, no matter their income.
I think the solution is that everyone should buy less coffee and try to make it at home more often. I'm not saying I'm a saint. I buy coffee about once a week, the last time being on Sunday after a run. I felt like I deserved to indulge and since I'd gotten up too early to make coffee, I decided to splurge on an iced latte at Seattle's Best. But was my impulse buy worth $2.80 for a measly 12-ounce drink that also wasted a plastic cup? In the time it took me to wait in line, I could have gone home and made my own coffee. And I would have been happier with it. They were out of vanilla so I flavored my latte with cinnamon, which doesn't taste so great. And when I make coffee at home, I use a half cup of milk, probably less than what was in my McCafe or Seattle's Best drink.
And let's face it, making your own coffee saves money too. McDonald's may be promoting their drinks as a cheaper alternative to Starbucks but MyCafe beats out McCafe any day.
Excellent article - I very much enjoyed it. In regards to the wasted plastic cups.. McDonalds, not Starbucks, actually provides recyclable cups/lids. Starbucks' approach is to offer a 10% discount if you bring your own reusable cup.. which is actually a better approach but they seriously need to market the crap out of it to make people aware of it.
ReplyDeleteMcDonald's consuming more milk isn't necessarily horrible, as they were a big driving force in really turning the tide against antibiotic/hormone use in cows. When they make a move, they have the power to create real change. The biggest concern with McDonald's is the water is consumes to produce a single patty -- reported to be circa 600 gallons.
The hardest thing with your 'MyCafe' is finding fair-trade, shade grown coffee that isn't going to be at a 500% premium to the columbian-drug-lord variety. The more we demand sustainable alternatives, the more selection we'll get.
Thanks for your comment. In my cupboard I have organic fair trade coffee beans from Trader Joe's. The label says the beans come from farm cooperatives at the base of the Andes where farmers use organic and sustainable crop production. I don't know whether it's shade-grown or how one would find that out. It wasn't too expensive since it's Trader Joe's, I think about $6 for 14 ounces. But I know not everyone buys their coffee at Trader Joe's. Are there affordable, environmentally good options at the grocery store? I dunno.
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