THE BIG DEBATE: With a growing number of fast-food chains adding vegan options to their menus, we look at both sides of the debate about the ethics of eating at them. 

It was recently announced that McDonald’s would be launching their first vegan burger in the UK, called the McPlant, following in the footsteps of competitors like KFC and Burger King.

A decade ago, at a time when you’d be hard-pressed to even find soy milk in the supermarket, the idea of a vegan meal at fast-food restaurants would have been ludicrous - but they have in recent years caught up with the rapidly-growing plant-based market, with huge success and acclaim from many vegans. 

But not everyone following a vegan lifestyle will be trying out the new releases, and there is an undeniable divide in the community over whether we should be buying from businesses that have built themselves on the exploitation and murder of animals. 

Both sides of the debate have their merits, and it is possible and understandable to be on the fence about this complex and contentious issue.

Here, we break down both arguments.

Why vegans shouldn’t eat at fast-food chains

The argument that vegans should avoid traditional fast-food restaurants is perhaps the most obvious side for vegans to take. 

As the definition of veganism is to seek to avoid all forms of animal exploitation where possible and practical, avoiding giving money to businesses built on trading in animal flesh would seem to many to be the correct thing to do. 

McDonald’s and its equivalents have traditionally had a pretty much exclusively meat-based menu, and the extent of their animal cruelty has been well-publicised.

Of course, all places that serve animal flesh - whether it’s from a local or factory farm - are responsible for cruelty, but those against eating at fast-food chains may argue that it is the nature and scale of the industrial farming they use that sets them apart. 

McDonald’s is the second-largest purchaser of chickens in the world and is responsible for the deaths of billions of birds each year. 

In the UK alone, McDonald’s restaurants sell around 30 million chickens each year - an incomprehensible number of lives lost for a cheap meal. 

In August 2020, an undercover investigation by Animal Equality exposed severe animal suffering on eight British farms across Lincolnshire. These farms were ‘Red Tractor-certified’ and operated by Moy Park, a known McDonald’s supplier. 

The disturbing footage showed hundreds of chicks a day suffering horrific deaths such as by having their necks squeezed by workers, chicks deemed too small to be profitable being denied water, chickens bred to grow so quickly that they suffered excruciating leg injuries, and birds crammed into tiny barns, unable to stretch their wings and turn around. 

Many chickens grown at these farms die before they make it to the slaughterhouse, but those who are killed for meat will be shackled upside down, which often results in broken limbs, and stunned. The process of stunning sometimes doesn’t kill the chickens, meaning they remain conscious when their throats are slit - or they are killed when plunged into the boiling water-filled defeathering tank.

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It is easy to see - and understandable - why many vegans choose to keep McDonald’s and its equivalents off their plates, as the restaurants are built on the very animal cruelty and exploitation vegans seek to avoid.

Another argument people make against eating in fast-food outlets is that by buying these foods, McDonald’s, Burger King and so on are simply tapping into a new audience and increasing their profits rather than ‘converting’ existing meat-eating customers to plant-based. Critics of vegan options question whether or not offering vegan alternatives actually encourages non-vegans to buy them, or if it’s a ploy to attract a new customer base. The question, therefore, is whether vegan options translate to more vegans and fewer meat eaters, or more just more money for the companies?

Why vegans should eat at fast-food chains

The argument in favour of eating at these restaurants as a vegan is perhaps more complex and less obvious than the above, but there are a growing number of vegans who support it. 

Many argue that buying these products sends a message to companies that veganism is on the rise - meaning they could rely more on plants, and less on meat, in the future. Looking at the example of the fast-food franchise Subway, it is clear that this argument has its merits. After the success of its first vegan patty, the sandwich company launched a ‘Meatless Marinara’ in January 2020. The huge success of these vegan options meant they expanded their menu to include a vegan chicken sub and chocolate cookie in December last year. 

Earlier this year, Burger King CEO Alasdair Murdoch predicted that within a decade, half its menu would be plant-based, a statement that was followed later by Wagamama’s announcement that it would be the UK’s first high-street restaurant chain to make over half its menu vegan-friendly. In the case of Burger King, Murdoch said there would be “an equal and opposite reaction where we are taking something else off”, whereas with Wagamama it isn’t clear whether new vegan options would be added to balance out the menu in favour of plant-based or if existing meat options would be removed. The difference is subtle yet significant as indicators of changes in consumer behaviour, but both examples are strong signs that support for plant-based options is very much there. Whether that support is based on ethics and concern for animal welfare or environmentalism is another question, but both Wagamama and Burger King cited improved ‘green credentials’ and sustainability as drivers of change.

The growing number of vegan options at a fast-food restaurant will also arguably mean that it’s more likely that a meat-eater may try it out of curiosity - and have their negative preconceptions of the vegan diet challenged. 

Vegan food at fast-food restaurants undeniably makes veganism more accessible. There is a myth that the diet is necessarily elitist and expensive, and the presence of plant-based options at cheaper restaurants means that this reputation could be seen to be dwindling. 

Not eating at McDonald’s for ethical reasons as a vegan can also be argued to be a slippery slope. Aside from those that are all-vegan, which are not accessible to everyone, all restaurants will be responsible for animal exploitation and cruelty in some manner. It is true that McDonald’s is notorious for its animal cruelty, but any business selling animal flesh also contributes to this cruelty. Of course, as mentioned previously, the scale of McDonald’s’ animal abuse is considerably more vast than most others, but it is arguably difficult to know when to draw the line when deciding where to shop and eat. We live in a non-vegan world, and while there will undoubtedly be some people who will - admirably, of course - go out of their way to shop at all-vegan businesses, this isn’t possible for the majority.

The debate is both contentious and emotional, and many vegans place themselves vehemently on one side. But it is also possible to see the merits of both sides of the argument and support whatever decision people may make. 

Polly Foreman is a writer and digital journalist based in London. Since going vegan in 2014, Polly has stood firmly against all forms of animal oppression and exploitation. She is passionate about tackling misconceptions of veganism and challenging accepted norms about the way we use animals in this country.

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