Has McDonald’s, the company that has done much to remake the American diet, developed a social conscience? Last week it announced it was removing artificial preservatives from Chicken McNuggets, said to be its most popular menu item, and making other changes to appeal to people who aspire to eat healthier.

The purveyor of Big Macs — nobody’s idea of health food — said it will slice high-fructose corn syrup from its buns, and remove artificial preservatives from its breakfast foods. Even greens are getting a makeover: McDonald’s reportedly is mixing in more nutritious romaine lettuce, spinach and kale with the iceberg lettuce it had been using. And we had thought Bernie Sanders would be in the White House before kale was under the Golden Arches.

Just as economists identify leading indicators in the economy, this may be a positive one for nutritionists, who have long fretted about the American way of eating, suspected to be contributing to increased obesity and associated maladies such as diabetes.

That nutrition matters to McDonald’s customers is noteworthy. At least some of them, and perhaps many, may have looked at whole-food trends as another kind of expensive elitism. If healthier eating goes mainstream, and even down-market, that could have a large effect. That nutrition matters to McDonald’s itself is also noteworthy: the company is looking to tweak its image because it has had difficulty increasing profits in recent years. Mike Andres, McDonald’s U.S. president, told Bloomberg News this about nutrition: “If it matters to our customers, it matters to us.”

Last year, McDonald’s announced that it would start using cage-free eggs in almost 16,000 restaurants in the U.S. and Canada. Such moves have an oversized influence because of scale: McDonald’s uses two billion eggs annually. On a similar note, Perdue announced in June that it would overhaul its animal welfare practices, installing windows and giving animals more space in its barns, and putting chickens to sleep before they are slaughtered. The Humane Society of the United States called the change “a pivotal moment” for animal rights issues. These are encouraging trends.

People are demanding better treatment from corporations, too. McDonald’s has been pressured by advocates of a $15 minimum wage to share its profits with workers, but thus far has only committed to a starting salary at company-owned stores of $1 above the current minimum wage. But even that too-modest step apparently brought results. Earlier this year, company CEO Steve Esterbrook said it contributed to lower crew turnover and better service. “Customers in the U.S. are noticing a difference,” he told investors.

McDonald’s still has much room for improvement on the labor and nutrition front, but it’s reassuring to see change, even if incremental. Here’s at least one indication that market forces are aligning with the cause of advocates who have called for better corporate behavior. We don’t want to make too much of a better McNugget, but it’s a place to start.