“Come with me, and you’ll be in a world of pure imagination, take a look and you’ll see in to your imagination. We’ll begin with a spin traveling in a world of my creation.”
This is exactly what you’ve done Chipotle; taken consumers for a ride in your imagination.
Your latest video just slapped farmers and ranchers across the face. You say that you serve food with INTEGRITY; need I remind you the definition? Just in case; integrity is an adherence to moral and ETHICAL principals, soundness of moral character and HONESTY.
Your latest video has not only classified the majority of farmers and ranchers as individuals with NO integrity but degraded their very lifestyle.
For those who haven’t yet seen the latest Chipotle video here’s a little insight of what you’ll find;
A world that’s dead, overused and barren. A place with no green grass, crops or even trees! A world that farmers have abused, misused and degraded. Chipotle did a great job depicting our food system as one being stamped straight out of a factory without regard to animal welfare or the environment.
I’m not going to link the video, but here are a few still shots to give you an idea.
So Chipotle, here are just a few issues I have with your video;
1) You pride yourself on integrity, while completely missing the “Honest” factor in your video. Farmers care for the land, the environment and their animals more than anyone else because without all of these they would have nothing. Farming is their livelihood so why in the world would they jeopardize that? Maybe you should consider showing REAL farms and ranches in your videos so consumers can see firsthand where their food REALLY comes from.
2) You portray meat being processed and coming straight out of factories. Where do you think your meat comes from? I’m a meat scientist and have been in PLENTY of “Factories” that produce YOUR products. That’s right, farmer John isn’t killing and processing your meat on the family farm, it’s all coming from a factory. So please don’t act like just because you carry an “All Natural” label your products are exempt from processing.
3) And then there’s this;
Really Chipotle, what is this? Are you simulating farmers pumping hormones into their chicken so they grow big and fat? Let’s talk about that for a second; hormones are ILLEGAL, so since they are illegal, they are NOT used in poultry production. My family raises commercial poultry, and let me tell you, there is no “shot giving” to any of those animals. I couldn’t imagine giving 100,000 birds an individual shot. THIS DOESN’T HAPPEN.
Your website says that in 2009 your CEO and founder Steve Ells testified before congress trying to get antibiotics banned in the ranching industry. Is that what the above picture is trying to portray? Would you like it if we banned doctors from prescribing antibiotics to you? I’d say not, well animals are no different. When you get pneumonia you expect an antibiotic to help you overcome your sickness and this is the same thing we do for our animals. When I have a sick animal on my farm, I don’t stick it in the barn and just hope for the best; I give it an antibiotic so that it can fight its illness. This practice is something farmers like to call animal welfare; it’s no different than caring for a sick child. Farmers want their animals to be healthy just like their own families.
4) Next there’s this;
I can’t say that I’ve EVER seen something quite like this. What it is exactly? Typically this is what I see when I drive by dairies.
Photo by Dairy Carrie
So Chipotle, I’m not sure how a company based on “Integrity” can justifiably portray the industry that puts sustainable food on your tables in the manner that you have. Your video is condescending and demonizes the majority of family farmers and ranchers in this country, an action that contradicts the sole meaning of “Integrity”. You really should be ashamed of yourself for misleading your consumers they way you have. If you’d like to see how a “REAL” farming operation is managed and cared for, I invite you anytime to our family farm.
Until then, I’ll continue to find my burritos elsewhere along with many other family farmers.
Here are a few related articles;
Country nights City lights- Kelly M Rivard – “Integrity in advertising, Chipotle’s scarecrow video”
Agriculture Proud – Ryan Goodman -“Chipotle takes on Big Food with animated Scarecrow”
Buzzard’s Beat – Brandi Buzzard-Frobose – “Chipotle a world of pure Imagination”
Righteous Bacon – Diana Prichard – “Chipotle’s Scarecrow Part 1- Lessons in corporate greed”
The Farmer Feeds Us All – Ray Bowman – “The big Lie”
Dairy Carrie by Carrie Mess — Duh, Chipotle, the udder is on the bottom of the cow, not the side.
Farmingamerica's Blog 
Thanks for this blog David! I agree 100%. And even worse, I opened up my email this morning and AdWeek is praising Chipotle – “Chipotle Makes Magic Yet Again With Fiona Apple and a Dark Animated Film” – it’s so sad that it is getting praised to highly. And I’m in marketing, but even if the graphics and design part of an ad are cool, I can’t praise something with a false message.
Sorry love the ad and think farmers are making a mountain out of a mole hill. He goes back to his lovely farm and gets produce and other supplies from his farm!
Suck It up its a commercial I am glad it made people think but really!
Fantastic post David!
what modern dairies really look like that? cows in production are not all grazing on grass in the sunshine. They’re often in free stalls 24 hours a day. I found that rather misleading, and not an accurate representation of the dairy industrial complex systems that produce milk. This article was, to me, an angry rant from a production agriculture perspective. why can’t farmers show consumers what modern agriculture looks like in a nice pretty way…the labeling still used and the background for the advertising still shows old McDonald’s farm and chickens roaming a barnyard. show consumers a chicken house…that would be honesty. show them what’s in a TMR. show them the government farm subsidies.
I understand very well that some farmers use free standing stalls, they are large and the animals are free to move around as they please. I think you should also understand that MANY dairies turn all of their cattle out on pasture in between milking. This is a very regular practice. Most use free standing stalls during the winter months.
Regarding the chicken house and poultry production comment. As a poultry farmer myself I have no problem showing what chicken houses look like and how poultry is produced. Check back in the future for a full write up complete with pictures. Thanks for the recommendation. There’s really nothing to hide there.
why do you all cap words bro? i thought this was a website for professional farmers trying to convince me that McDonalds is not gonna give me diabetes if i eat it twice a day and not a 14 year olds’ facebook wall.
Either way maybe it would be good to show pictures of plants that are in sub par or dilapidated condidtions compared to producers who are being ethical and decent towards their animals and consumers. what would be the loss in this unless 100% of producers are meeting the utmost standards.
Heres the dilly yo. I grew up around dairies in California, even now none of them look like that unless they are independently owned and operated. And I’ve been to chicken farm after chicken farm where chickens cannot stand on their own two feet for the chemicals that they are injected with to help them grow faster to meet demand. It may not be “hormones” but whatever it is, its not natural. So please stop spouting that they have no integrity. When I pass by cow farms with dead cows everywhere in Texas, daries in California and New Mexico where the average life span of a cow is 5 years because they are forced to birth cows so often and have no room to roam. Please. Stop defending poor practices of MANY farms because they are forced to keep up with demand in this country and have to ignore legal practices to do so. And stop pretending they don’t.
I don’t have much experience in the poultry industry, so I don’t have much to say there, but I am a dairy farmer and I work very hard to stay well-versed in what’s going on.
I know of only a handful of dairies in the whole country that are owned by processors (a large portion of which produce milk organically, by the way). The rest are independently owned and operated. Many, many, many of them use freestalls and have an average cow lifespan of somewhere around 5 years. Most grass-fed and organic dairies have a similar cow lifespan, maybe a a year or two higher at the very best. Organic, grass-fed, small, whatever your size, 99.9% of us follow the same guideline for how often a cow has a calf. We aim for about every 12 to 13 months, but not all of us achieve that and it often ends up longer than that. And guess what — that is the same amount of time that a cow would have babies if she were roaming in the wild. Just look at other wild ruminants such as bison and deer, who have babies once a year, every spring. The only difference here is that dairy farmers don’t necessarily aim for a certain time of year.
Those farm subsidies, should really be called consumer subsidies. Without them we could not afford to continue to provide you with the least expensive food in the world. Have you any idea how much your food would cost if we had to charge what it actually costs to produce it?????
As a farmer myself I don’t think farms should be given subsidies no more than I think that there should be many other government handouts. We need lower taxes, not more ‘free’ money. Also, the anti-GMO/anti-technology stance taken by the left is borne out of pure ignorance. I bet if you that if the world food supply was reduced because of disease-ridden meat and rotten vegetables and grain then they would change their tune.
Where do you think those farm subsidies come from to begin with? From the consumers. Tax money doesn’t grow on trees. How much more affordable might things be if we cut out the middleman?
The money for those subsidies did not grow on trees. It was taken from the consumers to begin with. I’d rather cut out the middle man.
I am a 5th generation farmer in Warrensburg, Missouri, here in Warrensburg we do not milk cows but we do raise beef cows and grow row crops. If you want to see what a farm looks like then look at my Facebook page or ask me to come see our operation. It sounds to me like you have never left New York City because you are so caught up on what people TELL you is true. But the real truth is Farmers genuinely care about their animals, PETA does not show you the pictures of farmers picking up calves in the snow and carrying back to the house, PETA does not show you the farmer putting the calf in the middle of his living room to warm it up and make sure it survives. PETA does not show you a farmer standing in 24 inches of snow in nothing but a t shirt and jeans as he freezes his ass off while he is trying to help a cow give birth. PETA doesnt show you that without antibiotics from time to time that many animals would be left on their death bed because there is nothing else to cure their sickness. You should really do your homework before you start bashing on Farmers the way that you did. Farmers feed the world, without the passion, and care that us men and women give our livestock, you would be starving on a street corner begging for food. The government subsidies do not make a farmer rich, that is for damn sure , they just bring your food to your table at a price that you can afford, and without us farmers you wouldnt even have food at the store to buy so go ahead look at my facebook, see my pictures, I dont hide anything from the public, and if your still not convinced then come out to my farm and i will show you what a farm looks like and then you will respect the men and women that work 24/7, 365 to bring affordable food to your table three times a day….. In some point in your life you need a preacher, in some point in your life you need a teacher, but everyday three times a day you need a farmer
I live in northcentral Iowa. Area farmers raise lots of hogs and chckens, but I certainly never see any of them. I do see row after row of confinment buildings that contain the animals. I smell the evidence of their existence when I drive past. If I stopped by for a tour, I literally would not get in without donning a hazmat suit. There are exceptions, but they are few and far between where I live. Chipolte claims to support those exceptions.
Totally Agree. I actually drove through Iowa and Wyoming this summer and was appalled at how many times I witnessed the disgusting pens they put TONS of cows in to stand in their own feces. I had to hold my breath as we drove by. Also, if they have nothing to hide…. why do they post signs and have such a fit when people want to go in and interview and take a look at their facilities?
Just a quick response to Jim, since you haven’t been inside: I actually work in one of those Iowa hog barns, and I think the “hazmat suits” you are referring to are the coveralls we wear to protect the animals from airborne diseases that might come in on our street clothes. We wear different clothes for the pigs’ health — there is nothing in those barns that humans need to be protected from! We are quite comfortable in there, as are the pigs.
Hey David, have you watched “Food Inc.”? Sure, there are plenty of ethical farmers out there, but don’t pretend that factory farming doesn’t exist. Don’t pretend that animals in these factory farms and the resultant animal products aren’t treated with an amazing array of chemicals and medicines to boost production at the expense of the nutritional value.
I don’t understand why you would think a movie is a better source of information than a real person that lives farming every day.
well the movie is based off a book of a man who went undercover with a camera and got footage of most f the scenes in the movie, or got audio recording from migrant workers at the plant. So the movie is a recreation of footage and audio obtained by someone who wanted to shed light on something he saw as a travesty. that is hard evidence, video and audio tapes, going up against an article with no real source of information other than the author.
Hey Greg, have you ever seen a real farm? I have seen your “food, Inc.” And I can say that it is nothing like ethical farm productions.
okay but you don’t deny the existence of sites like the factory in food inc. then? if so why would you tolerate such a site and why would you in some weird way almost defend them in your post like its alright for them to do what they do because your an ethical producer. instead why not say something like “places like that really give ethical producers such as my self a bad reputation and they should be forced to code.”
eatfreely: Their are a few bad apples in every basket. But does that mean that companies and individuals (who haven’t spent very much time, if any, on an actual farm) can group all farmers together and produce this image of farming as a 100% bad if they aren’t organic? The problem with ads like these are they portray all farmer’s (again unless they are organic) as unethical. As a farmer I don’t have a problem with organic farmers. They are trying to do the same thing as me (feed the ever growing population of the world). I have a problem though with how their food is marketed. It is marketed as if it is so much healthier and so much safer than traditionally raised crops and livestock by small farmers. Plus organic does not produce enough to feed the more than 7 billion people in the world. I do not see a time in our future when traditional farmers will not be needed. Sorry for the side note 🙂
thank you!
Those aren’t farmers
I don’t think he’s denying that factory farming exists. I think he’s just upset that Chipotle is unfairly depicting all (or most) farmers as holding little to no ethics in the way they raise animals and crops.
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Those images are called metaphors in case you were wondering. Our food system is broken and not sustainable. If you are a farmer who practices human and sustainable farming, I applaud you and you have every right to say that not all farms are created equal. Chipotle is just trying to change the game and open the eyes of most people who are oblivious to factory farms and the harm they do. Sometimes it takes a more severe approach to get people to pay attention. That’s all they are trying to do. This is what is concerning… http://www.naturalcuresnotmedicine.com/2013/08/this-might-be-most-eye-opening-video.html
I completely agree. It’s the American way to turn our heads at the horrible ways some humans act. No, not all farmers are this way but I think it has to be known how severe this cases can get. There are always exceptions to the rules…. I’m fairly positive chipotle wasnt trying to say that EVERY establishment is like this but it would be quite ignorant to say that “most” don’t do it this way. Go ahead and research just how many “animal factories” are out there. It’s appalling. I have plenty of farmer friends who have morals and do things the right way…. And for them, I am truly thankful.
Yes, you are right on. Satire is intentionally exaggerative to drive home the point. Of course some may find it offensive, but either because they didn’t “get” the satirical edge, or they are the ones to whom the offense is directed.
Excellent comment. I’ll eat Chipotle forever over McD’s anyday. 🙂
I find your comment about eating Chipotle over McD’s funny because Steve Ellis, owner of Chipotle, allowed McDonald’s to invest in the company significantly during the periods of 1998-2006. With the investments from McDonald’s Chipotle went from 16 stores to over 500. While McDonald’s is no longer a shareholder, much of the success of Chipotle came from the funds and backing from the restaurant chain you’re now bashing. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chipotle_Mexican_Grill
I find it interesting that Ellis was willing to sell out his “ethics” long enough for the chain to become popular and earn him millions, before reverting back to promoting a more “sustainable” food sourcing and suddenly re-embracing the slow food/organic/all-natural market as it was gaining popularity.
It would be one thing if Chipotle truly did follow this way of food sourcing completely, but they’re now too large to do so. With the number of chains they’re running they’re not able to source the ingredients they’re telling consumers they’re selling. If they were truly, honestly, all about the version of sustainable farming practices they claim to be promoting when they were out of supply they’d stop selling the products until they could source the all-natural and organic products again.
I’ll refer to an NPR article here: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thesalt/2013/08/13/211717907/chipotle-changes-antibiotic-free-policy-oops-no-it-doesnt
The thing to note is that Chipotle’s “ban” isn’t absolute and that individual chains can sell conventional meat as long as they put up a sign, which in most cases is simply a white sheet of paper with text. So if this is the case, how often do you think the individual chains/franchises sell conventional meat because it’s easier to source, cheaper for them and gives them a larger profit margin?
I’m no Chipotle fan, not because of their practices, but because their burritos actually make me ill, but what irritates me about them is that they’re manipulative and misleading to their gain. If you want to buy meat, poultry and veggies that follow your specific code of ethics visit farmer’s markets, join a CSA, get to know a local, small scale producer or go to a local restaurant that does source their food the way you like, but don’t rely on a huge chain store with creative advertising to dictate your food choices and for your food production education.
Thanks Chris for your comment. I understand that those images are called metaphors. Its amazing how many consumers don’t know that they are in fact metaphors, to many they believe that those metaphors are actually taking place in the industry in that same manner. You would be surprised how many people don’t know that their food actually comes from farms, many actually think is comes from the supermarket.
As an industry we are faced with a huge dilemma. Less than 2% of the US population are farmers and ranchers and this number is declining by the day. By 2050 we will be faced with feeding a projected population of over 9 billion people. This will require 70% more food than we’ve ever produced. Local,organic and all natural aren’t going to have the means to provide to consumers the stability that the world will need to feed this population. This can be attributed to the substantially lower yields associated with all natural and organic food production. The more these yields decrease the harder it will be for small processors and producers to stay in business which will essentially drive them to give up on the industry all together and explore alternative career paths.
Just as consumers have a choice to buy local, eat organic or all natural, farmers have a choice to raise animals and crops in a conventional or alternative manner. I’m all about choices, I’m just not all about throwing mud in the faces of farmers and ranchers who don’t have the same views as the next guy.
I think we are on the same page here in some respects and I appreciate your efforts to educate others about the system. You are way more schooled in the industry than myself as a consumer however from my perspective it seems most industrial farmers (I’m talking about corn growers, beef and chicken suppliers to the fast food industry to name a few) practice methods that are not sustainable and most, in the case of livestock, do not treat their animals in an appropriate manner. I buy the majority of our family’s meat and eggs from a local farm where all the animals are treated with care and respect. I feel good about that and love being able to support a local business. Now, I know most people do not have that option but why not? At least in the U.S. It’s definitely a complicated issue especially when you consider all the government subsidies involved. Whether you agree with it or not, the beauty of the Chipotle ad is that it is creating dialogue such as this.
Can anyone please tell me what ‘factory farming’ is? How do you define it and where did you come up with this definition!?!
I commend you David. Great job of pointing out the fallacies of this terrible ad.
Great post! Thanks for addressing this issue in such a clear, concise way.
Thank you Barbara
Melodramatic much?
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I agree with Chris. This film is not saying EVERY farmer is like this – far from it. There is a huge difference between the independent farmer and big agribusiness and factory farms. My family owns and farms land in South Dakota. And over the years, they’ve seen healthy, sustainable, family-run farms purchased by corporations and replaced by monstrosities. The more the public is aware of how their food is produced, the more they can support better farming practices. Ethical and sustainable farmers all over the country should be applauding this film, not disparaging it.
I guess the problem I see is that at least in dairy farming, where I am a beginning producer, the vast majority of farms in my area (Midwest) are still small and family-owned, but their product goes into the general pool without any special differentiation. When Chipotle puts out a video like this, it seems like they are telling the customer that unless the product has a special designation of some kind, that it comes from big, bad factory farms. So logically, this offends us, because they are pointing to our product even though they are not pointing to our practices specifically or even representing any farming practices realistically (they have said openly that this is a futuristic cartoon not meant to represent reality in any way).
I live and teach school in the ruins of what was once a robust rural economy. Now we have meat factories all around the school. The parents don’t have meaningful work and the children have asthma and neurological damage. There are no pictures of what goes on inside those meat factories because filming them is illegal in our state, but I’ve worked in one, so I know. We’ve asked for help with the hydrogen sulfide and ammonia on the playground – asked at every level, from local to federal. Industrial scale “farmers” have all the political power. Their policies indicate that child health is irrelevant to the “needs of the 21st century economy.” They can only say that because their own children go to school in town where the air is a little cleaner and the wells are deeper so there is not so much contamination.
My heart breaks for the few local farmers left who actually care about the land and care about the future. Their only hope is for city dwellers to make informed choices about what they buy and what they eat. Farming is hard work and deserves to be fairly compensated. City dwellers will pay a fair price for food that is not tainted, but right now they don’t know who to trust. Postings like yours increase distrust because you don’t acknowledge, much less address problems like the ones my community faces.
If you don’t believe me, come to my school on a day when the pig poop pits are being pumped.
Thanks for your comment Clover. I’m not sure how meat factories are causing asthma or neurological damage. I’ve been to and worked in the majority of meat processing facilities across the nation and have yet to see such. Where are you located and what type of facility is near by? I would be curious to do some research on this and what could be done to help the community.
I’m not real sure what type of political power you are assuming farmers have? To date we have been fighting for two years to even get congress to pass a farm bill, which is essential to the well-being of the Agriculture industry.
If you’ll take the time to read through past posts on this site you’ll see that I work very hard to show consumers how their food is raised, processed and provide information so they can in fact make educated decisions when purchasing food.
When we’re talking sustainability and carbon footprints as an industry we have come a very long way. In fact, did you know that the Ag industry only contributes 7% of total greenhouse gasses emitted, when compared to transportation alone at 26% this is a mere fraction. (these stats come directly from the EPA). The dairy industry alone has reduced its carbon footprint by 63% since 1944 and today one cow can produce as much as 5 cows did back then. Along those same lines, today it takes 34% less land and 14% less water to produce a pound of beef since 1977. I’ll stop here boring you with facts and figures.
Have a look at my response to Chris above for further explanation.
The University of Iowa has published work on the doubled rural resident asthma rates and the 52% asthma rate among children raised next to a hog confinements. Ask a rural school nurse about the 5A’s. Asthma, Allergies, ADHD, Autism Spectrum Disorder, and Anxiety. These are the chronic conditions for which an ever increasing number of rural children receive daily medication. These are all complex diseases with many causes, but a steady exposure to hydrogen sulfide, ammonia, and endocrine disrupting pesticides isn’t helping. Why are multi-drug resistant bacteria showing up in our local springs and in our wells?
I said industrial scale “farmers” had political power, not farmers without quotation marks. In my county the “farmers” are composed of consortia of investors from my state and from outside of my state. One consortium owns the land, a different consortium owns the building, a different consortium owns the hogs, a different corporation provides the feed, another corporation operates the transportation trucks, and another corporation injects the manure. Not one of them is held responsible for the externalized costs- and by that I mean degradation of the air and water, flooding due to excess tiling and plowed up waterways, lowered home values close to confinements, a breakdown of what we used to call “neighborliness” not to mention poisoning the Gulf of Mexico with our fertilizer. The no quotation mark farmers get the blame for the misdeeds of those who hide behind the corporate veil and use the appellation “farmer” to keep from being held responsible.
I do appreciate you work to educate the public about where their food comes from. We’re together on that. At some point the public is going to have to take some personal responsibility for what is being done to the environment and to children’s health to provide that food for them. The “We Have to Feed the World” trope isn’t going to work if the cost to us is the health of our children.
Yes, farmers do have a right to grow crops conventionally. With rights come responsibilities. For thirty years rural people have been told that if we speak up at all, then we are flinging mud on farmers. Based on what I see going on around me, I don’t believe that any more.
I appreciate your offer of help. This is what I have done so far. 1. Spoke to local producers- that helped some, they improved practices- corporate “farmers”, no response. 2. The Farm Bureau suggested planting more trees and closing the school windows- we do have trees, but what about recess? 3. Local and state health departments said they had no power to protect children from hydrogen sulfide and ammonia. The CDC and the EPA said they did not have money to investigate but they were aware of the problem. 4. The State University said they needed a letter from the school board- the school board is afraid we will lose more children to open enrollment if they speak up and it gets in to the paper. 5. County officials have no power to protect county residents from CAFO pollution. 6. State officials get pained looks on their faces but say they can’t do anything. If you have any other ideas, I’m open to listening. You can contact me directly. The readers of your blog may be bored by now with all the facts.
Thanks for the chance to share my perspectives. Since I work in a profession (teaching) that is enduring endless bashing, I sympathize with your plight. Your blog is interesting and well managed. Thanks for your work.
I like how you act like you have oh so many facts and figures that you are boring us and make it sound like you think you are above us, but really that’s not the case. Sure, farming has improved since the 70’s, but it’s pretty easy to improve since then– it’s still got a long way to go before it’s anywhere close to being sustainable. How do you suppose it takes LESS land nowadays? Because, in many cases, they are being contained in smaller spaces. You know how else we can accommodate a larger population? By CONSUMING LESS and WASTING LESS. Don’t forget that the EPA says agricultural runoff from excess manure and fertilizer is the biggest source of water pollution in the USA causing outbreaks of E. Coli and huge dead zones caused by hypoxia, destroying many of our fisheries. 14% less water in 35 years isn’t “a very long way”, especially considering farming accounts for 70% of ALL water usage. I also recommend you look into vertical farming and drip irrigation. Also, there’s plenty of writings out there that describe the harmful environmental effects on humans as described above, especially the communities that surround hog farms. I hoped to come to this blog to learn new things. Instead, you seem to only be showing part of the story. We can learn from one another, but the fact that you shoot down every opposing comment in such a biased, arrogant way is very discouraging.
Sorry, but I loved the video. I don’t believe this video making all farmers to be this way- and people who believe that probably could care less what they are eating and where it came from. I fully support my local farmers by going to markets and buying their product, knowing very well what they are doing is a great thing. This is for the subsidies and farmers whose farmers hands probably had been forced by the government and companies like Monsanto to start farming in this degrading way. Farming is NOT farming without grass fed pastured animals and antibiotic free feed and pesticides…. it’s just not. I applaud a big name company for taking some stand at least instead of investing millions into hiding the reality of the majority of our food source. It’s refreshing.
That’s an interesting definition of farming, because even organic farmers using pesticides, herbicides etc. — they just make sure to use ones that are approved for organic farms. Organic farmers also use antibiotics on animals when they are sick enough to need them — but then they have to sell the animal to another farmer because it can no longer be considered organic.
Does this mean that organic farmers are not farming?
Thannk you very much for doing this! What Chipotle is doing is insulting and offends me! When farmers like myself and my dad are out working 80+ hours a week at times to put food in the mouths and clothes on the back of the individuals just so they can turn around and create a video like that, it is offending. I farm and I love what I do, we care for our land, and animals, and it is alarming that people would create something like this. Thank you!
I see this video as praise to the family farm and rancher and a condemnation of the factory farm, where poor conditions, practices, and high doses of antibiotics and growth hormones. I see it as a “Let’s get away from the factory farming and get back to the ethical farming… That my take, I am not a farmer, a life long US Marine with a a desire to feed my family quality foods not ones created with by products, fillers, or produced without integrity.
Um, maybe I misinterpreted the video, but I thought the scarecrow main guy was the “farmer” and everything else was a result of “big, bad corporations out to get the top dollar”…. Apparently that’s just me?? Factory farming does exist, as does pure ethical farming. Which is better? Well that’s not hard to figure out, but the point is they’re both out there. I thought this video was a fantastic representation of what we could end up as if we forget about ethics and morality.
Just saying…
That’s a good point and I think it’s something that many supporters of organic and “all-natural” are coming around to — that some conventional practices are done out of necessity even if they aren’t ideal. However, as a farmer, I still am not a fan of being portrayed as a hapless victim.
Although the farm I am starting is going to be primarily grass-fed dairy that would adapt well to organic practices, I don’t think I have the means to convert to organic certification — but I don’t want consumers to pity me in some way because of this. I also don’t think it is something I would really want to do — I have enough paperwork as it is to comply with the regulations on regular farms, adding stacks of organic certification paperwork on top of it sounds very unpleasant to someone who chose farming to try to avoid pushing pencils the rest of my life.
All of this means my milk will still be in the general pool, along with many of my friends and neighbors who have made the same choices and have similar limitations. Do I deserve to have consumers scared away from my product, in the general pool, because of a few bad apples in it?
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I just read the rebuttal, and if you analyze rhetoric at all, you can easily spot holes in every point of the essay’s argument. I’m not saying Chipotle is right or wrong in what it depicts, but there has to be a more intelligent way of arguing the point. First off, the introduction implies that farmers are the target of this ad, when the factory is in a giant sprawling city. The most important part of the ad seems to be the disconnect between farmers and consumers, and how we, as a society, want to completely ignore where our food comes from or how it is treated. The only picture of a farmer we get is a land-loving, pepper-picking hero who decides to be an originator. Already, the thesis of this rebuttal is skewed, but they don’t link to the original source for no reason at all, so the reader is already being manipulated.
1.) Farms from major suppliers are VERY guarded and aggressive when people try to film them. I believe the video touches on this when they keep boarding up what’s going on behind the scenes. But what footage we do have is horrifying: a farm for Tyson in Wyoming, for example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bNY4Fjsdft4. This essay doesn’t take into account that Chipotle, in the end, is cultivating good and honest farmers by trying to support them. You can’t forget, it is the farmer in the end that is making the food for Chipotle. Also, most Chipotles around here advertise what farm they get their meat and veggies from (meaning anyone familiar with them will know they practice what they preach). My point being, this ad does not villainize ALL farmers, as the essay implies.
2.) While being hidden in vague language and overused metaphors, this point slips into obvious audience manipulation. I’m not sure what a “meat scientist” is, but it seems like a obvious stab at garnering authority so the reader won’t question what’s being said. Also, first the author says that meat isn’t processed in factories, but then later he says that Chipotle’s meat is processed in factories. It is clear the author is stabbing in the dark with this point.
3.) Here the author makes a good point, but forgets to look at the alternative to non free-range chicken and the procedures involved in both. Cage-raised chickens are fed antibiotics because of the increased bacteria in their cages, and can’t move freely while being over-fed. Thus, they grow very fat in a short time span. But before they package up the chicken, they inject a saline solution in order to plump up their meat. It seems to me that this is what Chipotle is arguing against, as free-range chickens (which Chipotle claims to use) don’t go through this process.
4.) The author must have figured his audience was entranced enough to not even argue this one. Of course he hasn’t seen this, because it’s BEHIND CLOSED DOORS. Just like the ad implies. Our humble farmer-hero isn’t “driving by” a grass-fed paradise farm when he sees this happening. But all one must do is research and look at some footage to understand exactly what this part of the advertisement is all about.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts, David. I completely agree with you. What people don’t seem to understand as many of the above comments demonstrates is that over 90 percent of U.S. farms are family-owned. So the farms folks seem to classify as “factory farms” are actually family-owned in nearly all cases. When farmers make the tough decision to expand or grow their farm business generally it’s so they can bring more family members into the farming operation and ensure a better future for the next generation. I am the daughter of a dairy farmer and married to a hog farmer and we raise hogs (independently of ANY corporation) on a larger scale to support two families. If we didn’t care for our hogs well-being, health and nutrition, then they wouldn’t be profitable and that’s the bottom line. Unfortunately, Chipotle is using its marketing muscle and creative abilities to manipulate consumer opinions. Farmers have to decifer their business model based on what fits their family and their environment. Just as consumers need to make an educated choice as to how to spend their hard-earned dollars on food. Don’t be fooled by Chipotle who is painting an unaccurate image of the modern American farmer. We are not much different then we were 50 years ago, aside from the advances in modern technoldy that enable production of a safer, more nutritionous product.
You really think Chipotle is slapping all farmers in the face? How could that be when Chipotle uses their favorite farmers in the US for all their ingredients? Oh and the scarecrow (“farmer”) discovers the benefits of fresh-grown food and then sells those (like most great farmers do).
The video is brilliant.
Your family farm not using hormones doesn’t mean all farms are like that. And gimme a break, you think Chipotle is accussing farmers of individually injecting chickens? This is a video game with a fictional storyline.
Relax world.
I do think that Chipotle is slapping all farmers in the face. Even though there are a lot of people that do know that not every farm is like the ones depicted in the video, there are so many more that have no idea. So these people who have no idea associate all farmers and farming practices with what they saw in the video. This means that Chipotle has just labeled (even if it was inadvertently) all farmers as evil people who do evil things to their animals like locking them up, injecting them with terrible substances, and doing everything possible just to make another dollar. Overall, even if Chipotle’s intention was good, the video was anything but good for farmers.
Also, you brought up the good point that Chipotle gets their fresh-grown food from farmers. Isn’t it then possible that Chipotle could have just as easily made a commercial going out to one of the aforementioned farms, and showing how the food they use is grown and taken care of. It would have still established that Chipotle uses fresh-grown food while showing every involved party in a positive light. Unfortunately, instead of a mutually beneficial commercial for Chipotle and the farmer, a commercial was made that undermined farmers everywhere.
Josh, thanks for your comment. When I mentioned that my family doesn’t use hormones in our poultry, I possibly should have been more clear. The use of hormones in poultry production is illegal. No farmer or rancher uses hormones in poultry. Chickens are tested in plant at time of slaughter for the use of hormones. In addition, I don’t think Chipotle is accusing farmers of individually injecting chickens.
The average consumer is displaced from the Ag industry by at least three generations and don’t know where their food comes from. Unfortunately many folks don’t understand production agriculture and think this really happens. It may just surprise you, I’ve had these conversations with folks. They can’t be blamed because they just don’t know, but when Chipotle paints a picture like this they don’t really know who to believe.
The use of hormones are predominately used in the beef industry. Did you know that a 3 oz steak from a steer given growth hormones has 1.2 nanograms (Ng) of estrogen compared to a steer NOT given any hormones at .9 ng of estrogen. Just to put this into perspective, a birth control pill contains between 20-30,000 ng of estrogen and an adolescent girl pre-puberty produces 55,000 ng of estrogen per day. Its really something to think about.
Seems to me like it’s a commentary on one possible extreme of the industrialization and corporatization of food production, which we may be on a path towards- or maybe not. Doesn’t seem to be a commentary at all on farmers themselves, or family owned farms, as the farmer is the protagonist of the short. Not sure how ethical Chipotle is, so I don’t know if the message holds up or not, but I thought it was a cool video nonetheless. The cover song was absolutely haunting, props to whoever sang that.
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I’m glad I’m not the only one that gets sick from their food. I don’t understand it – when I combine the same ingredients (the ones they list anyway) at home, I don’t get sick. So what are they really putting in the food??
And I’m not talking a little gassiness either – I’m talking within 20 mins I’m sick in the bathroom. That’s not normal.
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I am a farmer. We have a dairy, raise beef, laying hens, meat birds and turkeys. I would like to know what everyone’s definition of a factory farm is or what they believe sustainability is. These terms get thrown around and have a different meaning to everyone. The farmers that I know take good care of their animals and land. If they did not, they would not be farming for very long.
I am in total agreence with you on this one. They say that ignorance is bliss, I however disagree in this case. I think That chipolte needs to do a tad more research before they go making nationally aired commercials that degrade farmers. Truth is, less than 2% of the population is a farmer, yet they produce enough goods to care for our country and others. What people don’t realize, and thanks to this commercial may never realize, is that there are actually people out there That bust their butts from sun up til way after sun down to care for their animals and crops. All of the goods don’t come from a factory, and That’s what’s being portrayed in this ad. I think that farmers need to unite and an ad needs to be shown of the true farm life!
I loved chipotle up until right this minute. Go take your misinformed advertisements and find a new customer base because unless chipotle apologizes and runs some promotional ads for ag, they won’t get a single penny more of my money!!!
Okay, let’s see here…
1. I know that a lot of smaller, local farmers DO farm with their animals, and the environment, in mind, but the vast majority of large “factory farms” operate with little regard to either of these. “Without all these they would have nothing” is very true, but a lot of farmers operate via unsustainable practices. Growing two hundred acres of corn at one time, in one plot, year after year (okay there might be some soybean intercropping or rotation…) is not a sustainable method for a massive variety of reasons. I’m not saying this is necessarily the farmers’ fault, because a lot of them are forced to do so by the way our (by which I mean, the US, the system I am most familiar with) agricultural system has been organized for many years now.
2. I’ll agree with this. Not much meat, and certainly not the meat purchased by a chain restaurant, is butchered on site. I do know of a few smaller, local farms that can and do butcher on site though.
3. The reason for banning antibiotics is not for the reasonable use of them as the author is suggesting they do… they are attempting to ban antibiotics because of the way CAFOs use them… constantly, in order to allow for the terrible, disease-ridden and unsanity conditions in which cows, chickens, pigs, etc. live in, without every animal getting sick and dying. I don’t want to be ingesting antibiotics with my food- for one thing, I don’t need a constant low dose. For another, I don’t really want to stimulate resistance among the things antibiotics are meant to protect me and another animals from. There is no problem in using antibiotics on a case-by-case, “my cow is really sick” basis. That’s what they’re there for. They aren’t there to excuse the confining of animals in extremely poor conditions just to feed the masses poor quality food that may make stronger bacteria and diseases.
4. Typically, yes. And that’s not what Chipotle is commenting on. What they are talking about are the enormous CAFOs one can see off Highway 40 and across the United States. Looks kind of like this:
Mud, cows, more mud, and more cows. Smells awful. Makes you realize why they need constant dosing of antibiotics.
….sorry, I haven’t been able to apply my environmental studies major in a while. (Surprise!)
Bob, thanks for your comment. Let me start by addressing some of your concerns;
1) You’re right many farmers do pay close attention to the environment and the welfare of their animals. Personally I would say that most do this. I’m not sure I know your definition of a “Factory Farm”, if you have a min I would appreciate it if you could enlighten me on this. I’m not sure how farmers are “Forced” to do anything. Farmers have the right to choose many things; the crops they grow, how much they grow and what varieties (brands) of crops they grow. The mass production of grain in this country is determined by demand. This demand is solely driven by consumers. As demand increases and prices rise we see production of these grains rise. I will say that much of this can be blamed on subsidized crops. I think corn and ethanol production is a great example. However how that subsidies for ethanol have ceased we haven’t in fact seen a decrease in demand, so it will be interesting to see how this plays out.
2) Not much to say here, spot on.
3) Regarding the beef industry, from 1977 compared to 2007 it took 34% less land and 14% less water to produce one pound of ground beef (Capper 2011, Journal of Animal Science). In addition, from 1977 compared to 2007, we were able to produce 13% more beef with 13% less animals. Modern beef production today requires 20% less grain to finish beef. This study was conducted by Dr. Capper while at Washington State University. (I believe this can be cited in Capper 2011, I don’t have the paper in from of me so don’t mark my words) Here is a link to Dr. Capper speaking on the subject. (http://www.meatmythcrushers.com/myths/myth-larger-modern-cattle-operations-today-have-a-greater-negative-environmental-impact-than-small-local-operations.html)
If we finished cattle on grain in feedlots. Its important to remember that these animals aren’t in these lots all of their life. They in fact spend 80% of their life on pasture eating nothing but grass in most cases. If we finished cattle (finish weight of slaughter cattle is 1250 lbs) on grass we would not only need twice the land we have available but would in most cases have a lower quality product with a shorter retail shelf life. This would be due to the extended time it would take for cattle to reach a finished weight of 1250 lbs. Finishing cattle on grain not only increases the average shelf life but products are typically more tender and eye appealing because the cattle are much younger upon slaughter.
Hope this clears things up a bit.
Again, thanks for the comment.
This rant is just as bad as the video. There are no supporting scientific facts, articles, or images. This is a biased posting from an offended agriculturist, which is no better than a mudslinging propaganda add from a competitive food chain.
Jack;
Thanks for your comment. You’re right, in the light of the situation I did lack to provide sufficient scientific data support many of the wrongful accusations I wrote about in the above article. If you will, let me enlighten you on just a few.
The video pertaining to the above post is specifically disturbing in the sense that Chipotle is trying to shine a light on a “lack” of sustainability within the agriculture industry. This however is not the case. I’d like to break this down a bit;
Dairy Industry- From 1944 to 2007 the dairy industry along has decreased its carbon footprint by 63% per gallon of milk (Capper 2009, Journal of Animal Science) Thanks to modern technologies, today, once cow produces as much milk as 5 cows in 1944.
Beef Industry- From 1977 compared to 2007 it took 34% less land and 14% less water to produce one pound of ground beef (Capper 2011, Journal of Animal Science). In addition, from 1977 compared to 2007, we were able to produce 13% more beef with 13% less animals. Modern beef production today requires 20% less grain to finish beef. This study was conducted by Dr. Capper while at Washington State University. (I believe this can be cited in Capper 2011, I don’t have the paper in from of me so don’t mark my words) Here is a link to Dr. Capper speaking on the subject. (http://www.meatmythcrushers.com/myths/myth-larger-modern-cattle-operations-today-have-a-greater-negative-environmental-impact-than-small-local-operations.html)
Population growth- By the year 2050 the world’s population is expected to increase to over 9 billion people (FAO report of how to feed the world in 2050), This will require 70% more food than has ever been produced. This said, the current US population that are farmers and ranchers is at a mere 2%. Without modern sustainability practices we won’t be able to feed the world.
People seem to think that sustainability means “buying locally” which in fact is false. Sustainability is referring to a system capable of maintaining their productivity and usefulness to society indefinitely. Such systems… must be resource-conserving, socially supportive, commercially competitive, and environmentally sound. If local, organic and all natural products were sustainable In this sort of vision, the way we endure and sustain our production over time is that we have a smaller population, we need to spend more time working the land, we need to spend more money on food, and we need to learn to like to eat different kinds of foods. (Dr. Jayson Lusk Ag Economist Oklahoma State University, http://tinyurl.com/m75ap9a)
Regarding the poultry industry, well, I’m planning another article very soon that will be complete with pictures of a sustainable “all natural” commercial poultry operation that is I’m sure very different from Chipotle’s views on how farmers should raise chickens, though many of these chickens end up right in a Chipotle restaurant.
I could spend all night boring you with various facts and figures however,I challenge you to do some research because there is plenty of scientific data supporting many of the “rants” I wrote about above.
Again thanks for your comment.
You know that technically Chipolte has been false advertising? They are in fact using medicated beef, so the “All natural” beef really isn’t as natural as people think. as well as many points that were brought up none of these pictures provided by Chipolte are accurate, the cows in the head-locked machine thing is outrageous!
Dear Suzy Says, you are lucky enough to be the first comment on here that really pissed me off and I don’t care to read any further comments to put me in a worse mood. All these assumptions really ruffle my feathers. Chickens aren’t injected with squat. Chickens that can’t walk because they are too fat suffer this condition due to genetics. Every chicken you have seen is what is called a broiler or a Cornish cross. The particular breed grows extremely fast, completely naturally and that is why the breed is selected to butcher. It’s simply more efficient and cost effective, which in turn helps feed the world population of 7 billion, which those of you who are bitching about our poor production habits are doing nothing to contribute. These chickens that can’t walk simply weren’t butchered soon enough which is an honest management mistake, not a lack of animal compassion. Learn your facts before you decide to publicly criticize an industry of which you know nothing about. On to cattle. Cows have a gestation period of nine months just like humans. The extraordinary thing about cattle is that they will ovulate while lactating. The only other species that I can think of right off the top of my head that consistently has this same characteristic is the horse. Since cows can be bred while nursing a calf, they are typically bred so that they have a calf once annually. This has zero effect on the lifespan of the cow and they physically cannot produce any faster than this no matter how hard a farmer tries. Yes there are poor farmers out there that don’t do things like they should but the fact of the matter is that they are a very small percentage and the vast majority don’t actually do this for the money, but because they have a passion for caring for and raising animals and want to do their part and then some to provide food for a starving world. P.S. If you think us farmers are ignoring the law, why don’t you think again. Turn us in if you want because we have absolutely nothing to hide.
This is extremely well written. You give a great description of what we do as farmers, and how Chipotle portrayed such a terrible image of us. Honesty was definitely not used, and imagination was 100% used to help promote their company and products. Thank you for explaining our livelihoods!
I would have to see the video rather than these pictures. I can’t understand WHY you would not simply post the link if you are going to go to the trouble to write all that you did. Also … my family raises poultry for a living as well and you are wrong. There ARE SHOTS GIVEN. The owner of the poultry comes in and gives EACH INDIVIDUAL ONE shots at certain weeks. They are NOT STEROIDS, but they do give them vitamins via shot. YES EACH ONE!!!!
Cyntha, Thanks so much for your comment. If you want to see the video, you could search for “Chipotle scarecrow video” and it will for sure come up in the top of your search.
Regarding poultry production, I would be very interested in finding out who your parents raise poultry for? I’ve been actively involved in the poultry industry now for over over 15 year and worked one-on-one with the largest poultry companies in North America and have never hear of anyone giving individual birds shots one by one. The average poultry broiler operation in this country has over 100,000 birds, with some farms housing upwards of 800,000 birds. It would literally take a small army of people to give each animal a shot in a weeks time. Typically if vitamins are given to the animals they are administered through the automatic watering systems.
Not my parents .. cousins and they have been raising poultry for decades. They have extremely large houses and the most up to date technology out there. The old way put vitamins into the watering system. They have the males that fertilize the eggs for the hens they use to produce the eggs, they hatch for the chickens they use for broilers. They come to their farm two different times and give them shots for diseases. (It is very organized and only takes a few hours). It isn’t steroids or anything to make them grow, its just to keep down diseases so the chickens won’t catch something and die from it. They give $7 each for these baby chickens, they are suppose to be the cream of the crop for better egg production. This way their broilers will be better. They do it with genetics and not drugs.
I talked w/the cousin … and told her about our conversation. This is her reply: “When we raised broilers we didn’t do the shots, we vaccinated in the water. I had no idea that they did this on the pullet side of the company until we changed over to raising them. It seems impossible, but we only get a little over 4,000 birds. With broilers we got 15,000 birds to the house, so that’s a big difference. Whoever you talked to just doesn’t know about that side of the business.”
I understand the anger and frustration many of you have expressed here. Each of you are working hard to do the right thing. How can people who live where the food is produced work together to overcome “bad press” from Chipotle? Get together and help do something about the bad apples.
Why do I have to use the clunky phrase “people who live where the food is produced” instead of the traditional term of farmer? Around my home and the rural school where I teach there are farmers- real human beings that I can talk to neighbor to neighbor. The problems come from the industrial scale hydrogen sulfide and ammonia clouds that fill my school some days. Who can I talk to about that? Is it the land owners or the building owners or the feed supplier or the feed hauler or the barn technician or the family with the wheezy kids that rent the run down farm house or the manure hauler or the hog hauler? When I try to chat with someone on the gravel road they always say that it’s the fault of someone else. That “my shit don’t stink” attitude is part of the problem.
Someone asked “What is a factory farm?” I’d say it’s a food production facility where there is no human being who takes responsibility when there is harm to the neighborhood. Here’s the deal. If you keep calling consumers stupid and ignorant and refusing to acknowledge the problems in agriculture, they will keep calling you greedy and evil. The Ag Gag laws make consumers think most farms must be like the ones in that wretched viral 6 minute Samsara video clip. If consumers are whipping down the highway at 70mph and they gag on the stench even with the air conditioning blasting, they’ll think the food coming out of those secret buildings must be tainted.
I like a forum like this where producers can talk AND listen to consumers. Thanks.
I’m going to say one last thing on this for all of you who don’t get the ad, farmers included. Chipotle is not bashing farms. It’s not saying that they do everything the wholesome way. It’s not saying their food is better than others. The ad is simply suggesting that there are big problems in our food industry many of which are animal related. Maybe we should pay closer attention and make the best choices we can afford to make. If I were a farmer, I would be applauding this ad, not hating it.
Your type of farming uses antibiotic treatments for healthy poultry to increase growth. And if your chickens had more room in cramped buildings, they might not get sick as much. And many dairy farms I see have cows stuck in place eating corn/soy feed all day.
You have many valid points, but there are also valid criticisms of industrial farming.
Thank you so much for this post. Especially the part about the hormones being illegal in poultry. There are so many people that are illiterate to this fact. I can also see where this misconception stems from. On Perdue chicken that you buy in the grocery store (specifically, the perfect portions packages), they label it as ‘No hormones added.” However, if you read into it a little farther, there is an asterisk by this marketing line and if you look on the bottom of the package by the asterisk, it says that the USDA prohibits the use of hormones in all poultry products.
People are so concerned about farmers taking care of our food supply when we as farmers do it so well. Instead of worrying about farmers here who are doing their job well. Perhaps, a bigger concern is the purchase of Smithfield Foods by China where food safety is a MAJOR concern.
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David – I both agree and disagree with you. I come from a family with a farming history as well. I agree that Chipotle is not properly representing smaller family farms. I have seen many beautiful, lush fields and cattle grazing freely. However, I have also seen the large factory farms where cattle aren’t allowed out of pens but for a couple of hours a day and then into a dusty, barren field. I now live in one of the biggest cities in the country and there seems to be similarity; it’s not the Mom and Pop shop people rail against when they talk Corporate Greed, it’s the conglomerates that are all about the bottom line. It’s the same in this ad; it’s not a small family owned farm (where the family lovingly takes care of the land, it’s animals, shows at 4H, etc), it is the faceless corporation who needs to produce X tons of corn in this quarter to show a profit, regardless of the steps needed to get there.
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I love the post Dave, you literally said the exact things that came to mind when I saw that commercial. I could only laugh when I saw them milking the cows from the side of the metal box. When do cows have udders growing out of their sides? If you go watch the behind scenes of this movie it will only infuriate you more. They claim this ad was just advertising for their new game “app”. I’d like them to come out and apologize to farmers and take responsibility for this video. There was CLEARLY more to this video than showing it was for a game. Working in the Ag industry isn’t easy and we all deserve a certain amount of respect. The misperceptions that video has caused should upset anyone working in the industry.
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Chipotle used to be owned by McDonald’s. The Scarecrow at the start of the ad is working for a larger cooperation and while working gets to look behind the scenes. I the scarecrow realizes it can do better and starts a food business with fresher food.
When I was 16 I worked at McDonald’s and a McNugget is not chicken, it is a gross pink paste. Those burgers are frozen hockey pucks.
Lastly your frame by frame analysis of a cartoon is almost comical. Did you expect a factual cartoon ad?
Chipotle is not helping farmers out at all… I agree with a lot of other post it is like a slap in the face acting as though farmers don’t ever let there cattle out of there pens to have freedom and get to graze on their own, although in many big operation some of this may go on but many smaller operation I would have to say this is false!
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Let me start by saying I have never eaten at a chipotles. However they have a program through our milk producers coop where they require certain things to qualify. They call it Happy Cows, where the cows had to be outside a certain amount of time and can’t have docked tails and so on. What I see in this video is Chipotle as the scarecrow saying that large food conglomerates, con Agra for example, are taking over and the small farmer should get the recognition because he knows how to do it “better”. They even use a SCARECROW as the small farmer… Scare crow as in small farmer scaring the large food factory named Crow in this video. They are saying corporate farms are ruining the earth and the little guy isn’t. And fresh is king.
Ok now that being said let the bashing begin. Just remember I am a small farmer and I was not offended by this.
This ad isn’t against the small/local/family farmers. It’s clear they are critiquing the larger-scale industrial production farms. Look at what we’ve become as a society formed around consumption and profits. We want things cheap. And we want a lot of it. And some cut corners to get there.(Meanwhile, America wastes 40% of its food).
http://www.minds.com/blog/view/201538/quite-possibly-the-most-eye-opening-six-minutes-ever-on-film
I didn’t take that farmers were bad at all. I’m ks raised and know all about farming. Chipotle did an amazing job saying not to eat processed meats and eat farmer raised instead.
You’re not showing the frames about the scarecrow driving the old truck just like a true farmer or making a farm and raising cows and chickens.
I eat at chipotle and support their business. The product is freashly made and not frozen. Would farmers rather see their food used freshly or used and processed with horrible ingredients for a nasty Big Mac or Chicken Nuggets. Watch the video again and watch clear to the emd this time.
Thank you to all farmers.
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