Disclaimer: I'm fully supportive of organic and natural producers. My in-laws produce and market natural beef and I have friends who raise organic/natural produce and/or livestock. To each their own - consumers have choices and so do producers. This post is focused on Chipotle's desire to disparage farmers instead of market their food.
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| Homemade burritos - no gimmicks, just food. |
Chipotle wants you to eat "Food with Integrity" - meaning their food - which
comes from local, organic farmers and ranchers. Except their food isn't always
organic nor is it always locally sourced, as
I've shared previously. But that's for a different day.
What I'm talking about is how Chipotle brandishes their "Food with Integrity"
campaign and attacks conventional producers while pushing calorie-laden
burritos down consumers' throats. And when I say attack, I'm not exaggerating.
One need look no further than "Scarecrow" or "Farmed &
Dangerous" to see that Chipotle has a vendetta against those who don't
raise or produce food that is up to their standards.
However, while Chipotle heralds "Food with Integrity" ad nauseum, they have no
problem marketing serving meals with such high caloric content that even the recently crowned Queen of American Food Decisions, Michelle Obama, should raise an eyebrow.
Serving up a burrito that packs the caloric-punch of 1/2 of one's daily
recommended intake is not exactly on the moral up and up since they tout their
burritos as a superior product. Wouldn't that be sort of like Burger
King promoting their chain as healthy and good for you while serving
deep-fried-everything [I love BK by the way, so no offense intended].
For example, IF I ate at Chipotle [which I don't. EVER], I would get a steak
burrito with rice and cheese and maybe some black beans because I'm [mostly]
anti-vegetable. However, for argument's sake, let's say I was to order a steak
burrito with white rice, black beans, fajita veggies, some salsa and cheese. Sounds fairly
healthy, right? Protein, veggies, whole grains and no high-fat sour cream or guac - all very healthy things to consume, in moderation. Until you visit their nutritional
calculator page and input that exact same order only to find out that
you've just inhaled 935 calories. Do you know how many miles I have to run to
burn 935 calories? I looked it up -- 10 MILES. That's a lot of running for a
freakin' burrito. I should be honest here and say that 935 calories is about 75% of my RDI so it would wreck my diet more than most peoples'; however, even for a full-grown man whose daily RDI is ~2000 calories, 935 is still a lot for one meal.
So, instead of dragging down every producer who prefers to let pigs
and chickens live inside climate controlled barns and outside of a coyote's mouth,
or every beef producer who takes advantage of scientifically-proven safe
technology that allows him to be efficient [during a time when the beef supply
is the lowest it's been in 60 years], maybe Chipotle should focus on marketing
their food instead of marketing their ideals.
McDonald's, Olive Garden,
Red Lobster - all restaurants that I love that aren't trying to guilt me into eating
their food. Which is why I still eat chicken nuggets, spaghetti and meatballs,
and lobster tail platters.
Selling burritos must be super-hard when you play on a level playing field.
Until next time,
~ Buzzard ~
The thoughts and opinions of this blog post strictly represent that of Brandi Buzzard Frobose and are NOT representative of any other entity or organization.
Labels: animal welfare, chipotle, factory farming, factory farms, family farmers, Farmed & Dangerous, Farmed and Dangerous, food choices, Food with Integrity, marketing, meat, scarecrow