Cyndi's Two Cents
Restaurant chain serves fast food and propoganda
Commentary
My friend Josh made the mistake of buying lunch at a place he’d never been before. He’d seen the Chipotle chain restaurants all over the place, but never ventured into one until one day last week:
“The excursion infuriated me and now has me a little more worried abou the uphill battle that livestock producers and agriculture face, even right here in our own backyard.
The short of it is that Chipotle, a Mexican themed “fast food” joint, is built on a premise of selling a dining experience tied to high-end and fresh ingredients. It is clever marketing. It’s the same taco or burrito you get anywhere else, but packaged differently. The typical consumer here is probably more well-to-do than the average Taco Bell restaurant goer.
But the whole place is chock full of anti-agriculture propaganda. Apparently the founder of this chain, Steve Ellis, is big on organic and humane. And, in my humble opinion, is short on the facts. The t-shirt worn by the woman who served my food was purporting the dangers of hormones and antibiotics in meat. Apparently, they serve Niman Ranch pork, and want everyone to know it is the only safe and healthy pork you can eat. The Chipotle website dives into the propaganda full-steam ahead. You can see it for yourself at www.chipotle.com.
It’s frightening. My drink cup is a plain white cardboard container, showcasing the restaurant’s logo in black and a mini-essay titled, “Sour Cream, without the Bitterness.” It is four paragraphs about the dangers of consuming food from farms where they use hormones and antibiotics. It could easily have been written by Wayne Pacelle. And they’re serving this up to hundreds of people each day, right here in my own little farming community in Central Illinois!
From an advocate standpoint, it gets much, much worse. Steve Ellis, the founder, is incredibly wealthy and is a very suave promoter. Forbes.com lists his most recent annual compensation at a mere $5.68 million. If he wants to spread his propaganda, he’s got he resources and he’s revered as a business genius. Google his name and see the myriad of outlets that laud his expertise and authority. This guy, like Pacelle, is a real danger to the facts about agriculture. If he says it, people will believe it. And I don’t think people are checking his sources.
While I think Wayne Pacelle is still a long way from driving America’s animal agriculture industry out of business, I’m now worried that the Steve Ellis’ of the industry will beat him to the punch. A little research on him (just 30 minutes of digging on the web) has surfaced all kinds of examples of where this guy is influencing the food supply chain and forcing industry mandates. It is reported (online) that he has the ear of major executives at Smithfield and Daisy. Pork producers and dairymen know the heavy impact that can have on their markets (especially given the year they’re experiencing.)
Arianna Huffington features Ellis as a guest columnist on her blog, ‘The Huffington Post.’ So he’s now getting incredible media exposure without the filter of unbiased journalism.
I haven’t been too worried for animal agriculture until today. Angered and disappointed, yes. But not worried, at least not until I saw the propaganda being served for lunch at a popular restaurant in my town and hundreds of others throughout the U.S.!”
Josh’s experience is more proof of the need for animal agriculture to step up and tell its story. Working together today is probably more important than ever, yet I see state and national groups representing different species of livestock standing on the opposite side of issues that could change the face of animal agriculture as we know it. At the USDA “listening sessions” on National Animal Identification System (NAIS) I see pork producers and cattlemen squaring off in rooms where armed state police have been posted to prevent rioting.
Although I step up on a soapbox with editorial comments, I have been “Switzerland” in public regarding my views on mandatory animal identification. I personally see nothing wrong with having our premises identified. We do. We also have every animal on our farm tattooed and registered. We, as owners of our livestock, made the decision to register our premises and id our cattle. Has it been a money-making proposition? We’re losing at least $200 per head on every calf we sell at the sale barn, just like everyone else.
I’ve made it a habit of asking every livestock farmer I meet how they feel about mandatory animal id. Nine times out of ten, the farmers I talk to vehemently oppose yet another government mandate. These are not the radical, vigilante-types often associated with the anti-NAIS movement. These are your neighbors. These are farmers who represent the 5th and 6th generation on their land. They question the true purpose for NAIS and the majority of those with whom I visit no longer trust the government to do what is best for the family farmer. Most of them really don’t know what a mandatory NAIS will look like and ultimately what it will cost them and most of them would prefer their opinions about the program remain private.
I’m sure there are a lot of people for whom I have great respect reading this who will be unhappy that I am voicing my opposition to a MANDATORY animal identification program, but there is unrest in the countryside. Friends, we need to work together because, as my friend Josh can attest, there are a whole lot of folks with deep pockets out there working against us.
Sorry, but Josh has no clue here. It’s not the same stuff as Toxic Hell, not by a long shot. Neither is Qboda, La Salsa, or Baja Fresh. As a person with food allergies, I *know* the difference.
Second of all, the documentation on the hormones and antibiotics is nothing to do with Pacelle–it is well-documented fact. There’s a reason why rGBH, the Monsanto hormone, is banned from dairy cattle and chicken. Perhaps Josh ought to do some real research on the issue before complaining.
Third, so they promote and use healthy practices for their ingredients. Why is this a bad thing? For the health-inclined, more natural food (meaning less chemicals, carcinogens, and non-food garbage) means more patronage and better health. Is Josh actually more concerned about propaganda and advertising than his health?
Sorry, Cyndi, but equating Josh’s complaint about Chipotle’s marketing and production practices to the unconscionable NAIS is not only disingenuous, but calling it a stretch is beyond generous to the point of being utterly ridiculous. Josh seems to think that Ellis building his business from one shop upwards through good products and marketing, with investment help along the way, is a bad thing. Last thing I checked, that was the American Dream, and Ellis fighting to preserve his investment of time, blood, sweat, tears, and money is not only justified, but expected.
I think Josh needs to clear the socialist cobwebs out of his head some.