A food fight has broken out in Italy over McDonald's new "McItaly" sandwich — an Italian beef burger strategically arrayed with local toppings such as Asiago cheese and artichoke spread. Though critics call the sandwich an affront to Italian cuisine, Agriculture Minister Luca Zaia, who has taken to wearing a McDonald’s apron to promote the McItaly, praises McDonald's for giving Italian farmers and cheesemongers a boost. Is the government's plug a “monstrous act of national betrayal,” as one critic called it, or just a smart business move? (Watch a report about the McItaly burger)
A ludicrous idea, with dubious intentions: The McItaly is the latest weapon in McDonald's push to standardize global tastes, says Carlo Petrini at the Slow Food Movement — a plan that will only bleed local cuisine of its flavor. But the real "insult" is claiming this will help local farmers, when it's really just forcing them to sacrifice tradition and their own profits for McDonald's bottom line.
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.
Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
-
Today's political cartoons - May 8, 2025Cartoons Thursday's cartoons - divine retribution, ChatGPT in Congress, and more
-
Titus Andronicus: a 'beautiful, blood-soaked nightmare'The Week Recommends Max Webster's staging of Shakespeare's tragedy 'glitters with poetic richness'
-
The Alienation Effect: a 'compelling' study of the émigrés who reshaped postwar BritainThe Week Recommends Owen Hatherley's 'monumental' study is brimming with 'extraordinary revelations'
