The Eat with Care blog
Writing about humane farming issues by Caroline Abels, founder of Humaneitarian. Your comments and feedback welcome. (All replies are screened and posted, if thoughtful and respectful.)
Meet Steve Ells of Chipotle
Returning home from work, tired and ravenous, my parents often stop at their neighborhood Chipotle, a fast food chain serving Mexican food. Not just because the guacamole is scrumptious (mom always asks for extra) but because my folks are humaneitarians. They gave up industrial meat a couple years ago (soon after I did), turned into basic humaneitarians and began patronizing Chipotle because the chain serves 100% humanely raised pork, as well as beef and chicken raised in alternative ways. Somehow, Chipotle has figured out how to serve humane meat, keep costs low, and grow.
Humaneitarian.org will be looking into exactly where Chipotle sources its meat and how it can keep prices reasonable. Meantime, here’s an interview with Chipotle founder Steve Ells, in GOOD magazine, in which he notes that pork production is the worst kind of factory farming. He says:
“I visited many different [pork] confinement operations. And what I saw really, really horrified me. It was a really bad experience. But I’m really glad I had this experience. It’s really important to understand what goes on inside those buildings.”
Readers, have you eaten at Chipotle? What do you think of its food and its mission?