Italian Agriculture Minister, Luca Zaia, has been drawn into a war of words after a food critic accused him of “monstrous act of national betrayal” for endorsing McDonald’s new McItaly Burger
By Chris Farnell
The McItaly Burger, a new burger launched exclusively in Italy, using only Italian ingredients, was launched at a press event two weeks ago attended by Agriculture Minister, Luca Zaia. Zaia was enthusiastic about the new burger, saying it would “give an imprint of Italian flavours to our youngsters”.
Food writer Matthew Fort of the Guardian newspaper responded angrily to the news, claiming “no-one in their right mind can see McDonald's as either a force for good in the world or as representing the sunny uplands of gastronomy” and that Zaia’s involvement in the launch was a “monstrous act of national betrayal”.
Zaia, however, has defended his decision, claiming that “McItaly will bring to the Italian farmers three million and 448 thousand Euros of additional income per month. It will also enable McDonald's clients to eat a healthy burger made with PDO and PGI 'Made in Italy' products”.
Zaia was disparaging of the criticisms of Fort and those like him: “The left wing, with its loudspeakers, persist in baying at the Moon, finding themselves further away from the real problems and fenced in their own sterile moral orthodoxy, which impairs any kind of development and hinders a clear vision of reality.
With regret, we are forced to deliver bad news to this kind of left: Stalin is dead. And we can safely bet he never set foot in a McDonald's.”
Edited by Jennifer Denby
Source: http://www.mcdonalds.it/