I’m a fan of the band Coldplay. If you are familiar with this band, you may remember the popular song The Scientist from a couple of years ago.
The lyrics of this song are nostalgic in nature – about a person wanting to go back to the start of a particular situation so he can relive something over again and “get it right”.
Now, the restaurant chain Chipotle has sponsored a remake of this sentimental song featuring Willie Nelson. The music video is awesome, touching on the theme of needing to go back to the start with regard to the horribly destructive, “down the rabbit hole” Concentrated Animal Feeding Operations (CAFOs) in order to make things right with animals, man, and the environment.
Chipotle’s motto is “Food with Integrity”. While I’ve never eaten at a Chipotle to tell you whether this motto is actually incorporated into the realities of running a restaurant chain, I can say that I seem to remember that their Virginia restaurants buy from Joel Salatin’s Polyface Farm, known to be an example to the world of sustainable, biodynamic, beyond organic farming.
I saw Joel speak at a seminar here in Florida a few years back and I am almost certain he mentioned that Chipotle was one of the local businesses that his farm served.
Whether or not this is still true, I don’t know. I did call Polyface to confirm, but didn’t hear back yet. I know those folks are super busy this time of year.
Music to Change The Way the World Thinks About Food
So it seems Chipotle is trying to support local sustainable farms. Its website says as much and with their sponsorship of this new music video, they are putting their money where their mouth is.
Music has a strange and wonderful way of communicating what plain words cannot.
The scary truth is that 330 farmers are leaving their homes EACH WEEK in America. This trend must be reversed with more small farms being created than being lost if we are ever to send the CAFOs the way of the dinosaur.
My hope is that this music video will help to bring the message of the need for more sustainable farms as well as the need for consumers and other businesses to support them so that no more small farms are lost.
Listen, enjoy and pass it on!
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist.com
Source: Willie Nelson Covers Coldplay, Assists Chipotle’s Quest to End Factory Farms
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{ 37 comments… read them below or add one }
I might be eating at Chipotle more often! I wish they were able to source enough grass fed beef, but they struggle with that.
We need more small farms to support the growing numbers of businesses like Chipotle that want to buy from them.
Bye Bye CAFOs: We’re Going Back to the Start — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/cj23K2l3
Bye Bye CAFOs: We’re Going Back to the Start — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/tjHNryFX
Chipotle is our go to “eat out fast food” and it is very good. (Although sometimes it can be a little too salty) We even copy the burrito bowl recipe to make at home for a quick mexican meal. I love it that some restaurants are trying and maybe this will cause others to get with the program.
Wow… I’m no fan of chain restaurants, but I just love this ad. I see that Joel Salatin has a new book out called “Folks, This Ain’t Normal.” Looks like a good read. We need more farmers like him!
Chipotle is different. I miss having one around the corner as they are in NYC.
I love that video. We used to eat at Chipotle’s until finding out they cook everything in soybean oil. If I could find our for sure whether or not it is GMO (like most soy in America) I might change my mind, but until then we have stopped eating there. I do love the idea of what they do though, and it is definitely a step in the right direction for getting out of the CAFO meat use.
No wonder my stomach always feels sick after eating there – I’m allergic to soy!
The only meat that is not cooked with soy oil is the carnitas. That’s what we have when we go- shredded lettuce in a bowl, carnitas, fresh tomato salsa and guacamole. It’s all real food goodies, and no soy/veg oil to be found!
Amy Love@Real Food Whole Health\’s last post: The Essential Elements Series: Introducing the Essential Six Elements
thanks for the tip, I didn’t know that!
I would eat at Chipotle because of how they source their meat if only they would stop using soy in EVERYTHING. We went there for dinner one night after learning that all the meat they source in Oregon was local, pastured, sustainable, but found that nearly every item they offered contained soy.
I did hear that they are looking to change that, if they do, I’ll go back. Until I hear that, I wait.
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The only thing that doesn’t have soy in it is the pork. So a carnitas salad is what I eat there, but I skip the (soy) vinaigrette and get extra salsa instead.
Bye Bye CAFOs: We’re Going Back to the Start — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/Ah1rzUVi
FANTASTIC!! When I have to eat out, Chipoltle is the only “fast food” I will eat. They have a policy to try to buy local. I love the vid. Thanks for sharing… I will post this on FB.
Okay, now wait a minute folks. Correct me if I am wrong, but doesn’t another larger chain own Chipotle? I thought McDonald’s had a finger in this. (revisit Fast Food Nation for how fast food chains make their food) I’ve been to two in SoCal and I am not impressed. My son pointed out to me the sign that read, “25% of our pork is natural.” He was all excited about that claim until I told him what the word “natural” means in the food world. You all know that it means, “Yeah, it’s natural, it’s really 100% pig.” I am amazed that the Virginia Chipotles can buy outside Chipotle’s mainstream food system. (Fast Food Nation again) If so, bravo! I also met some organic farmers from Michigan last summer who’s business is to grow and sell organic beans and Chipotle recently became a customer, so bravo again. Chipotle is one of those really obnoxious places to eat and here’s why: ya line up, tell ‘em what you want, sit down in rather cold, uncomfortable chairs and tables with really loud rap music playing. This is all of course to get you to get out in a hurry, aka gulp down your food, which is not a healthy way to eat at all. I do not enjoy that kind of eating any longer. But hip hip hooray for the young hip folks who do like to gulp down their meals and not give a thought to how that kind of eating impacts their health. I wish America could be more like Europe in how we consume our meals. Alas.
Chipotle is more of a carry out place than a sit-down place. We eat from there about two or three times a month and I’ve never actually sat down there. Our location in northeast Ohio buys their chicken, pork and beef locally as well as a large percentage of their fresh vegetables when they are in season. Their salsas are addictive and their hot salsa is seriously hot.
Hi Sarah – I love this video too, I posted it on my FB page about 6 months ago, and I’m so glad to see others also posting it and getting the valuable messages you talk about here. We watched a show on PBS about a year ago which showed the CEO of Chipotle talking about how some of their food is sourced from Polyface, and in particular they highlighted their pork and showed Joel’s happy pigs in the brush of his farm, rolling and lounging happily in their comfortable home environment. Sometime ago I was involved in a conversation on a message board where people were talking about this restaurant and saying that they still use vegetable oil in their cooking. Like most restaurants, they are going for the cost savings aspect, and also apparently there was some indication that the vegan or vegetarian crowd had some pretty big influence on the use of these oils for cooking. Of course, I sent comments via their link on their site right away suggesting they remove vegetable oils and go with coconut oil or even lard from pastured-pigs. After all, they are getting their pork from Polyface, why not the lard too? Again, the vegan/vegetarian card was put in my face from the person who responded, saying that Chipotle is looking into alternatives, but that their discerning customers who choose not to eat meat would not eat foods cooked in lard. So, there is a lot of education to do still, but these videos and discussions are great and go a long way toward making those changes even closer than they were before. Thanks for this great post!
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On Chipotle’s website they state that their pork is 100% sustainably sourced and they provide details on what this means. It is not the same as their generic “natural” term. I feel like they don’t have enough healthy fats there (although my son loves the guacamole), but we go on occasion if we “need” to eat out. Read their website to know what they are really about.
Kate @ Modern Alternative Mama\’s last post: Suppressive Medicine and True Health
Bye Bye CAFOs: We’re Going Back to the Start — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/qOCnhwPx
Great post and video. Shared, Tweeted, Stumbled
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I know this is a different topic, but what would you suggest to do about tooth sensitivity and gum issues? I have periodontal disease and had surgery which I don’t want to have again and I’m only 29! I just started taking the FCLO last month but sometimes forget to take it.
Thanks!
Don’t forget that FCLO! You also need butter oil along with it .. the two work best when taken together.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Bye Bye CAFOs: We’re Going Back to the Start
Bye Bye CAFOs: We’re Going Back to the Start — The Healthy Home Economist http://t.co/GpU4vVVb
I forgot to ask if anyone knows how to get the white spots out of teeth from flourosis?
You can’t get them out. They are permanent. The only thing you can do is whiten the rest of the teeth so that the white spots are less noticeable.
Sarah, TheHealthyHomeEconomist\’s last post: Bye Bye CAFOs: We’re Going Back to the Start
Our Lexington, KY Chipotle uses grass-fed meat from a local butcher shop. I was very happy to learn this! And it is owned by McDonald’s? Now, wouldn’t that be interesting if McDonald’s got into the act….!
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Chipotle is the only fast food place I can eat in without getting sick. All of my friends know that. I liked the video.
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This is awesome – now if we could just get Chipotle to stop using soybean oil!
McDonald’s sold its interest in Chipotle Grill in 2006. Soon after Chipotle made an IPO, and is not part of a conglomerate. Its stock, by the way, closed at about 310 today. I wish we had one up this way.
My husband is super allergic to MSG and almost every restaurant includes it in some form of seasoning or another (on ingredient lists it can called many, many different things), but Chipotle is safe! He can eat anything on the menu without a reaction. Chipotle and In-N-Out are the only two fast food type restaurants we can eat at. So, we like Chipotle, and I really do believe that they use good, “real” ingredients.
I hadn’t seen that video, but I liked it. Thanks for sharing.
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I am also really sensitive to MSG and chemicals in food. It is nearly impossible for me to eat out. Chipotle is fantastic. I can eat anything…..with no reactions at all. I love their guacamome, so good! Thanks for the post Sarah!
GUACAMOLE (oops)
Thanks to our real food diet, my husband and I increasingly feel awful after eating out at mainstream restaurants! I am happy to report that Chipotle does NOT make us feel this way! So we love to eat there often. AND it’s delicious
I have never been to Chipotle, so I cannot give my opinion of it, but I think that asking them (or any restaurant) to switch to lard over soy is futile. There are two reasons for this: Cost and customer appeal. First of all I think waging an anti-Vegetarian / Vegan war is futile – ironically such restaurants and healthfood stores that cater to the Veg crowd are generally the safest options out there, even for WAPF followers. So, when it comes to restaurants, I think the goal should be convincing them NOT to cook with SOY oil and opt for Canola instead. Personally I do not eat any fake “vegetable” oils, but if forced to choose between corn, soy and canola, I’ll go with canola any day (although the GMO thing is still a huge problem), simply because the canola (rapeseed) actually IS an oil seed vs. soy or corn that requires serious toxic processing to get “oil” out of it.
As for the cost, back in the day real fats like lard and tallow were a common by-product that was a cheap and efficient cooking fat. Nowadays, however, “vegetable oils” are much cheaper. Though, I do wonder what the meat processors do with all the lard? I know they are trying to engineer “eco-friendly” Franken-animals that have less fat and don’t produce methane, but as far as I know this hasn’t happened yet. The funny thing is that I was in Poland back in 2003 and we asked for butter for our bread, and he brought out a bowl of something that I had never seen before. My mother picked it up and started laughing, and handed it back to him and said (in broken Polish) “We want BUTTER, NOT LARD!” Apparently, in Poland they still eat lard on bread, and real butter is much more expensive (and very rare in many European countries, especially Italy). Then she told us how when she was a kid they would always spread warm bacon grease or lard on their black bread (in New Jersey – where my grandfather actually smoked his own pig in the basement!).
SOY is the problem here. This past summer I walked behind the restaurant near my job where we often eat breakfast, and I freaked out – I saw a few empty oil containers, picked one up and read the ingredients: Soy oil and 3-5 extremely TOXIC-sounding chemicals. Honestly, the names of the chemicals were SO TOXIC sounding that I had never actually read any ingredient labels that sounded that bad before. These were large restaurant-size containers, not the normal stuff you buy in the grocery store. For a few weeks I refused to eat there. Then one day the owner was there and my friend asked him if they use that soy oil on the griddle they fry my eggs on – no – they use Pam spray for that. The Soy oil is used for deep-frying fish and stuff. Why do they use soy oil? Because too many kids have PEANUT ALLERGIES! So restaurants are not allowed to deep-fry in peanut oil, so they switched to SOY instead!
Here’s the irony: Today SOY ALLERGIES are skyrocketing! So, in my opinion restaurants should get rid of the soy and use Canola for regular cooking and Coconut or Palm oil for deep frying. I assume this is cheaper than sourcing lard or tallow, and it would not be offensive to the Veg community. Nevermind Big Brother – if I was a restaurant owner I’d be afraid to cook with REAL animals fats because the government would probably shut me down!
If you google Soy-free gluten-free vegan there is actually a website devoted to such a diet – run by a Vegan who is allergic to both soy and gluten! Not that I advocate Veganism, but it just goes to show that even the Veg community is negatively affected by soy! Soy is actually one of the allergens that food labels are required to list, so I don’t understand why it is so ubiquitous in restaurants. I just wish Big Brother would recognize CORN as an ALLERGEN too – that would make my life so much easier (if I don’t recognize an ingredient I assume it is made from GMO corn – including artificial and “natural” flavors)!
Chipotle uses “refined soybean oil.”
http://www.chipotle.com/en-US/menu/special_diet_information/special_diet_information.aspx
That’s a deal breaker for me.
Yes, we need more small farms, but it sure seems that the government is doing its level best to put those selfsame farmers out of business. (Reference the persecution of those that would sell raw milk to people who make the effort to seek it out, Michigan regulations regarding pig farms, making it illegal for children to work on farms, healthcare reform, etc…) Matter of fact, since Obama has become president, the government seems to have doubled down in its efforts in the waging war on the American small farm.
Small farms require hard work, long hours, and little pay. It helps to have mentors, too. How many people urge their children to become farmers anymore? Most people push their kids to get a college education and a comfy desk job somewhere. Small farmers are almost as sneered at in today’s society as stay-at-home moms.