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It is no secret that <a href="https://www.inc.com/business-insider/millennials-food-industry-preferences-eating-out-restaurant-prepared-meals-catering.html?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">convenience is king</a> when it comes to the fast-food segment&mdash;about <a href="https://smallbusiness.chron.com/percentage-sales-drive-through-windows-fast-food-restaurants-75713.html?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">65% of McDonald&rsquo;s business</a> comes from drive-thru sales. The trend has many people asking: At what cost?

This past week, the Minneapolis City Council <a href="https://minnesota.cbslocal.com/2019/08/08/minneapolis-city-council-votes-to-ban-new-drive-thru-facilities/?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">voted unanimously to prohibit</a> new drive-through <a href="https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/File/2462/Drive-throughs%20Staff%20Report.pdf?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">fast-food restaurants, banks and drugstores</a>, citing the <a href="https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fast-facts-transportation-greenhouse-gas-emissions?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">climate benefits</a> of taking cars off of the roads to cut back on gas <a href="https://www.epa.gov/greenvehicles/fast-facts-transportation-greenhouse-gas-emissions?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">emissions</a>.&nbsp;

Lisa Bender, the City Council President, <a href="https://twitter.com/lisabendermpls/status/1159520225269706753?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1159520225269706753&amp%3Bref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fminnesota.cbslocal.com%2F2019%2F08%2F08%2Fminneapolis-city-council-votes-to-ban-new-drive-thru-facilities%2F&utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">tweeted</a>: &ldquo;Responding to our constituents&rsquo; concerns about their impacts on neighbors, pedestrian safety and building design, Minneapolis will no longer allow new drive-throughs.&rdquo;

Drive-thru windows have long been associated with the fast-food segment, with <a href="https://firstwefeast.com/eat/2015/03/in-n-out-burger-created-the-first-drive-thru-experience-as-we-know-it-today?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">burger chain In-N-Out</a> claiming to have set the trend in 1948. In fact, the popular California hotspot started as a <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In-N-Out_Burger?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">drive-thru-only restaurant,</a> until long lines and a crackdown on city government building permits forced the chain to expand. Ironically, the chain&rsquo;s home town of <a href="https://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Society/2010/0802/Birthplace-of-the-drive-thru-bans-them-to-curb-obesity?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">Baldwin Park banned drive-thru windows in 2010</a> as part of Michelle Obama&rsquo;s national campaign to stem obesity. The trend continued&mdash;with San Luis Obispo, California prohibiting the drive-thru window back in 1982, <a href="https://www.sanluisobispo.com/news/article39105198.html?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">much to McDonald&rsquo;s chagrin</a>.&nbsp;

Not everyone is a fan of Minneapolis&rsquo; new ordinance. The first version of the ban <a href="https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/File/2016-00158?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">failed in 2016</a>, including <a href="https://lims.minneapolismn.gov/Download/File/2599/Drive-throughs%20Public%20Comment.pdf?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">vocal opposition</a> from an advisory committee on people with disabilities. One user <a href="https://twitter.com/JudithR49764618/status/1159622280915357699?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">tweeted</a> in response to Bender, &ldquo;Instead of drive-thrus at food service establishments, far more parking will be needed, paving over far more green space.&rdquo;

With the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2019/08/08/climate/climate-change-food-supply.html?utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">global climate crisis becoming more and more urgent</a>, Minneapolis has decided to take a controversial step to do what they can, one window at a time.

For more info, read the story <a href="https://newfoodeconomy.org/minneapolis-drive-through-ban/?fbclid=IwAR10spOeKJB-8gW5QO5TxMUbcXV5FNamrI-AjWlE87WIoq34xvloskUK0-k&utm_source=1851franchise.com&utm_medium=article&utm_campaign=are-drive-thrus-killing-the-environment-minneapolis-isnt-taking-any-chances-2710694" target="_blank" rel="nofollow" style="text-decoration-line:none" target="_blank">here</a>

Are Drive-Thrus Killing the Environment? Minneapolis Isn't Taking Any Chances

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