McDonald’s to Help East German Farmers: Up...

McDonald’s to Help East German Farmers: Up against a campaign to stop its Big Mac hamburger from crossing the crumbling Berlin Wall, McDonald’s Corp. promised to help East Germany’s farmers by buying their produce. A West German supplier of the fast-food giant has signed a deal with a cooperative farm near Magdeburg, close to the East German border, McDonald’s Germany Chairman Walter Rettenwender said. East German politicians want to ban McDonald’s and similar fast-food firms, saying their throwaway plastic cartons will cause huge disposal problems. But McDonald’s is hoping that opinion will change as it helps bolster East Germany’s sagging agricultural industry.