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McDonald's feeds farmers McDuck, foie gras burgers

September 6, 1999
Web posted at: 9:59 a.m. EDT (1359 GMT)

PARIS (Reuters) -- Bowing to pressure from angry gourmet food producers, McDonald's served up McDuck and Roquefortburgers to local farmers in southwest France on Monday, a spokesman for the fast food chain said.

McDonald's chefs at Agen substituted locally produced duck breast and foie gras pate for beef in its Big Macs and swapped blue-veined Roquefort cheese and plums for processed cheddar in its cheeseburgers in response to a request from the local farm union.

"We decided it would be nicer to do that than to have them dump three tonnes of tomatoes and manure in the restaurant," said Eric Arnaux, manager of the restaurant.

"We fed around 20 farmers. It was very peaceful and they found the food very good."

The U.S. hamburger chain has become a target for French farmers protesting against U.S. trade sanctions on luxury foods, imposed after the European Union refused to lift its ban on U.S. hormone beef.

Farmers have dumped manure and rotting fruit at McDonald's outlets across France in recent weeks and one activist is still in jail for his part in the wrecking of a partially built restaurant last month.

Farmers at Agen decided to attempt a more peaceful demonstration to promote their rural produce, a spokeswoman for the national farm union said.

"The idea was to try and work together with McDonald's and promote our regional foods by putting them in a McDonald's bun instead of their stereotypical foods," she said.

Copyright 1999 Reuters. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.



RELATED STORY:
French farmers protest tariffs, target McDonald's
August 30, 19999

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