McDonald's has partnered with the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef as part of a global beef sustainability pilot project.

As one of the world's largest purchasers of beef, McDonald's has identified beef sustainability as a key business priority.

Jeff Fitzpatrick-Stilwell is the senior manager of sustainability with McDonald's Canada.

"It's really important for McDonald's Canada, that we source 100 per cent of all of our beef from Canadian producers. So when the global company was looking to do a pilot project, Canada was one of the ideal places. Not only because of the leadership of the Canadian industry but our commitment to sourcing beef from Canadian farmers."

mcdonalds beef

Fitzpatrick-Stilwell notes that McDonald's Canada purchases about 65 million pounds per year from Canadian producers, most of that coming from Saskatchewan and Alberta.

Last week executives from McDonald's and Cargill, along with members of the Canadian Roundtable for Sustainable Beef toured two Alberta ranches that have completed the third-party process to verify sustainable beef production under the pilot project.

Nearly 100 Alberta ranches have expressed interest in participating in the project, with 19 having completed verification.