McDonald's Eggs

The Chicago Tribune is running an article with the heading, "McDonald's drops egg supplier over animal cruelty report." The article reports, "MCDonald's dropped an egg supplier Friday, following reports of cruelty... A three-month investigation conducted by ABC News and Mercy for Animals, a non-profit organization devoted to animal welfare, produced a video alleging abuses at farms run by McDonald's egg supplier Sparboe in Iowa, Minnesota and Colorado."

Questions for Discussion

1. Why do you think that farm managers would allow animals to be mistreated? Psychological reasons? Economic reasons? Other reasons?

2. Do you think that this is a case of punishing an entire company for the behavior of a few people within the company? Is it appropriate to fire a company because of the poor behavior or lack of quality from a few employees? Why or why not?

3. Do you think that it is appropriate to eat food from animals that were mistreated during their lifetimes? Why or why not? Do you think that it is appropriate to buy food at restaurants that knowingly buy meat from farms that mistreat animals? Why or why not?

4. Do you think that executives at McDonald's really care how the animals are treated or did they stop using this farm company for other reasons? If so, what other reasons? Does it really matter why McDonald's stopped using this company? Why or why not?