Towns with No McDonald’s (and vegan alternatives)
For many years, it seemed that there was hardly a town in England, without a branch of the American fast food chain Mcdonald’s (the first one only opened in England, a few decades ago).
But today (despite the TV ads), sales are rapidly falling (and costs are rising, as franchises can’t sell cheap cheeseburgers and make a profit at the same time). And as people increasingly question the ethics of rainforest beef and ‘happy cows’ to make burgers and shakes, people are making their own food.
And finally many councils are growing backbones, and refusing planning permission to new outlets, due to concern mostly over litter and fast food being sold right next to schools.
The Devon town of Tavistock is known as a bit of a ‘foodie place’, as it is full of farmers’ markets and farm shops. People here buy good ingredients, and then make their own food at home!
A few years back, it featured in the news, as it became the first town in England, where the local branch of McDonald’s had so few customers, it had to close down, and move its staff to nearby Plymouth.
One local said ‘We feed our children properly here, so they had no customers’.
Where is Tavistock?
Tavistock is located in West Devon, a market town that used to be known for tin mining. It’s often called ‘the western gateway to Dartmoor’, one of England’s smallest National Parks.
Named after the River Tavy, it once had two railway stations, but both have now closed. Local campaigners are dismayed that their request for a new line to Plymouth to reduce road traffic, has been refused government funding.
Countries With No McDonald’s
There are quite a few countries on earth that don’t have any McDonald’s chains. Not just North Korea, but also Jamaica and Bermuda (people don’t really eat burgers in either country).
And Iceland (due to being an island out in the middle of nowhere, people tend to eat local food, as imports would be too expensive).
Why is Vatican City Renting Land to McDonald’s?
Unbelievably, one place that rents land for a McDonald’s (for around 30,000 Euros a month) is Vatican City. What would St Francis of Assisi (the patron saint of ecology and animals) say?
There were huge protests when the deal was done a few years ago, but Vatican City went ahead anyway. Leading to it having to give some food away free to local homeless people.
So we have the world’s richest religious organisation that takes money from a company that is torturing animals and tearing down rainforests, and giving out junk food to local people on the streets.
And people wonder why church donations are falling.
It’s best to avoid fast food restaurants for chips (KFC cooks theirs in fat, as does McDonald’s abroad, and Burger King’s plant-based whoppers are cooked on the same grill as meat.
McDonald’s fries are vegan in England (but not always abroad) and their Filet-o-Fish is made with Alaskan pollock (a fish now veering towards being endangered). Experts say that if you eat fish that has no label, it’s probably pollock.
Created in the 50s for Catholics (who didn’t eat meat on Fridays), this plain fish in a bun with tartare sauce is apparently President Trump’s favourite meal.
When he recently enjoyed a huge banquet on a state visit, apparently on the flight back home he said ‘Whatever the hell they served, I don’t know’ (it was made with British organic ingredients including Hampshire watercress, Kent raspberries and Victoria plums). As a teetotal, he was also not impressed with offerings of organic cognac, wondering where his usual diet soda was.
Chip shops can use plastic-free packaging from Vegware (which also sells biodegradable pots for mushy peas). Another good swap would be to use rapeseed oil (that helps our local farmers) instead of palm oil (causes deforestation and is imported from Indonesia).
Report Fast Food Litter to Fix My Street
Fed up of seeing fast food litter strewn all over your local town or village? Despite England being absolutely covered in litter, it’s actually illegal to drop it (but the law is not followed through – in Switzerland if you drop so much as a sweet wrapper, a policeman comes to tell you to pick it up).
Litter fines are around £80 (again in Switzerland they rise so if they found those vandals who dumped all that litter in Oxfordshire, they would be fined millions and likely sent to prison).
For now, here’s what you can do. You can report any litter you see to Fix My Street, an open-source website where you can upload reports and photos, using the maps (and ask for updates, if wished).
The difference from reporting litter to your council direct, is that the website sends your complaint to the council, but as it’s made public on the website, something usually gets done. Especially if lots of people complain about the same thing (from litter to potholes to fly-tipping).
What Can Councils Do About Fast Food Litter?
A lot, if they do their job. It could ask fast food outlets to provide more bins (some fast food joints and local supermarkets don’t have bins outside, which they should have considering they sell so much disposable packaging).
No matter who dropped it, it’s your council’s responsibility to clear up litter on public land (paid for by council tax, which is why it’s good to not drop it in the first place).
For private land, councils can serve litter abatement orders, which means the landowners are fined if they don’t clear it up. Or alternatively, the council can clear it, then bill the landowner.
If councils did their jobs properly, we should have litter-free cities, towns and villages everywhere. And considering fast food litter is a big part of this, it makes a good start.
Some fast food restaurants (like London’s Unity Diner which serves vegan food to fund its farm sanctuary) only serves items in compostable packaging, to avoid littering of plastic. So why can’t all the others do that too?
Unity Diner (a London fast food joint to help animals)
Unity Diner (London) offers a vegan carvery on Sunday (with vegan Yorkshire puddings, maple-glazed veggies, vegan cauliflower cheese and gravy), then fast food in compostable packaging through the week (including burgers and hot dogs, ‘fish and chips’, tempura prawns and vegan kebabs).
Located in Spitalfields, nearest tube stops are Aldgate East and Liverpool East (just a few minutes walk away).
All profits help support its own Surge Sanctuary (to home rescued barnyard friends). You can also help to buy bales of hay by setting the sanctuary as your choice at easyfundraising. Then anytime you buy a product or service from participating retailers, a percentage goes to them, at no cost to you.
This means that whenever you buy a product or service from participating retailers, a percentage goes to the sanctuary, at no cost to you (and does not affect loyalty points).
Note that most vegan restaurants don’t accept cash, as bank notes are made with animal fats (and plastic). Check site updates for accessibility, and dog-friendly restaurants.
