As if that scarecrow musical commercial wasn’t enough, now Chipotle is taking conventional farmers on with their satirical comedy on HULU “Farmed & Dangerous.”
Have you watched this series yet? I haven’t. But I will. Should farmer’s be angry about it? I can see a ton of issues arising from this series. Let me say this: Farmers do have a sense of humor. Blue Collar Comedy Tour anyone? They are the first ones to laugh about rednecks and farm animals. Check out The Peterson Farm Brothers for some farm humor. They know how to laugh about daily life.
How many people will think this film is way over the top and how many will think, “oh my gosh, did they just say that? Isn’t that what it is really like?”
Sure, no farmer is going to feed his cow petroleum – I mean, duh. And we can laugh at the absurdity of an exploding cow video going viral. But isn’t this series also playing up hugely inaccurate stereotypes too? Like, just because a family owns a ton of acreage and uses technology to farm, doesn’t mean they are cold-hearted, greedy, corporate jerks. But Chipotle wants you to think that so you can love eating the pure wholesome food they serve in their chain restaurants from food they buy from corporate organic farmers.
I get it, it is advertising. And it is working. Look, I’m talking about it! I just don’t enjoy advertising that demotes one group of people in order to promote the income for another. I prefer positivity to bashing. I didn’t like it when SodaStream felt like they had to tear apart Coca-Cola to get more sales. I don’t like Chipotle insulting one type of farming practice in order to sell burritos. If you want to see what an effective commercial looks like, watch the award-winning commercial of mike morse here.
What do you think? Do conventional farmers have a right to be insulted? Or should we all just laugh this off, ignore it and wait for the next big thing to get all irritated about?
I agree with you Annie. I’m not sure why Chipotle felt the need to make this “comedy”. We are lucky in America to have so many choices regarding our food. That’s awesome!! I guess I don’t see the need for misinforming people to sell a few burritos.
I must be missing something. I watched the trailer and thought they were making fun of industrial farming – the kind that everyone talks about avoiding. The caged chickens, the chemical fed cows, growth hormone etc. I mean… isn’t that what the whole foods/organic foods movement is all about, avoiding sources like this? I’m not sure how anyone would mix this up with traditional farming.
As a small farmer I do see why some are upset. There are people out there, it seems, that are misinformed enough to believe it’s true. Does it get attention? Yes. Seeing the statistic that Chipotle is NOT a reliable source for information makes me wonder, though, what kind of attention. I *am* a small farmer. The kind of place that Chipotle pictures – chickens outside, heirloom/heritage production on a small scale. I realized they are not interested in truly supporting small farms when they blocked me from their Facebook page. I was not rude…I answered a question they refused to answer, and rather than answer silenced the heirloom organic farmer they claim to support. How’s that work for integrity and transparency? The question – they say they serve their chosen meats “whenever available” – what happens if it isn’t available. Look at it a couple ways – do they lower their prices? No. Do they tell people? Before that, no, but I hear they do put signs up now,but still not changing the price.So in other words, if there’s not enough supply to fill their corporate large scale restaurant,they’ll use what they criticize because it’s available. They didn’t say that – I had to fill in the blanks with what WAS said after they banned me from the page. How’s that support of small farms working? I wonder, too, what most people consider a small farm? For chickens – 300 birds? 2,000 birds?20,000 birds? 80,000 birds?It’s portrayed as if they’re buying from small under 300 birds at a group and that just isn’t the case. The fact is for just three restaurants they want 2,000 birds (but not the whole bird, so that gets into regulations) per week…meaning at any time a farm has 20,000 birds on hand. Many don’t really consider that small. If it was as outrageously comedic as some think, there wouldn’t be people thinking it’s indicative of reality. The fact that they silenced rather than added a question that was sincere shows it’s not small farmers they support. It’s whomever has a feel good story to make customers think it’s better than what they criticize. I don’t think that’s integrity, and I don’t think it’s honest. I don’t feel the need to criticize those large farms that feed the majority of the 308million people because guess what – that’s what the majority of people *choose* and want to buy. I know I’m a niche, and there are people out there who want heirloom, color, something different. Tearing down others doesn’t make mine better, and I strive to put the effort in raising a better product, with variety.
Wow Jan! I had no idea you tried to engage on their Facebook page and it was deleted. I wish you could have saved a screenshot of your comment. But I know you and I bet it WAS a very kind answer to a question.
I also admire that although you are a “small” farm (great argument about size by the way) you still support larger farmers too. I agree – all farmers have the SAME goals – feed as many people as possible with nutritious food. We should be supporting each other, not ridiculing them.
It’s been a couple of campaigns ago,but they have no interest in answering anything but their own talking points…repeatedly. That isn’t transparent. There’s no point in getting nasty in comments, but it really seems odd to delete the very kind of farm that they claim to support. The reality is I can’t feed a large city. Don’t want to. People live away from their food supply,and no matter what Chipotle says, they are a corporation thatneeds volume food that is USDA inspected *and* pieced out (they don’t want the whole dressed chicken, just the dark meat). Small operations of a few hundred birds cannot afford that.They’ve also insulted farms that DO have what they want, but the farms don’t want to do business with them because of the division and association with negativity. The smaller processors are needed too. Each step in the chain needs to make a profit and folks shouldn’t kid themselves – if it didn’t make a profit it wouldn’t continue. They *have* to make a profit and didn’t get where they are by losing money.
Kenda,
This comment you made – “thought they were making fun of industrial farming – the kind that everyone talks about avoiding.” – that is exactly the stereotype they are blowing up and exactly why I wrote this post. This idea that if a farmer uses a certain type of seed or feeds their cows a certain type of food then they are industrial corporate scum? The problem is the stereotype – like so many – is very wrong. I bet if people walked through two farms – one “conventional” (uses bio-technology) and one organic – a large majority would not be able to tell them apart.
You also asked how anyone could mix it up with traditional farming. Again, you support my conclusion that due to a huge marketing push, the word “traditional farming” is very difficult to define. I never used the word traditional, I said conventional. Conventional farmers buy their seed from seed companies, and use technology to keep their animals healthy. Organic farmers might buy their seed too or reuse their own, and they refrain from medications to keep their animals healthy. Both use technology that our great-grandparents only dreamed of, so the term “traditional” is pretty misleading.
OMG is it wrong that I don’t eat at Chipotle because of their fancy meat? I eat there because I like Burritos. So apparently this isn’t going to move me either way. I will say that the other day my local Chipotle had a sign up that said something along the lines of their not being enough organic chicken so unfortunately their chicken was just regular chicken. I was like, “Um can I have a chicken burrito”.
Lee
LOL!!!! Oh Lee this comment made me seriously LAUGH!! Thank you. You make a really great point here – they use the same chicken that they slander and villainize! How is THAT right? I’m sorry, but with as much as America eats, I just don’t think we can support our nation on only organic farming. Although I do appreciate buying organic foods when I can afford it.
I’m with you. Can I just eat a chicken salad please?”
Kendra- I am a farmer and would love to answer any questions you may have. 96% of the food raised in America is raised on farms such as mine.
I’m a little confused why you would even weigh in on something you haven’t seen. A quick google search reveals the truth about factory farming, and “small farmers” barely exist any,ore. I applaud a Chipotle, it’s great to have ethical fast food options.
Melissa,
Good point. But all my opinions were formed from the trailer. And I wanted to share my first impression and then hopefully hear from other people. What I wanted was a real discussion on the topic. I am going to watch this tonight though.
Also? Have you visited a farm? I live in the heart of farming country here in rural Kansas. All of my closest and dearest friends own family farms that you would call “factory” farming. What I saw in the trailer and what I see on my friends’ family farms are so different. Again, maybe the show itself is different and perhaps watching it will change my tune? I am not sure. But I will watch it anyway.
I agree that what you call “small farmers” barely exist anymore. It is very difficult to support yourself and/or family on a “small” farm. (I put small in quotations because that word can be relative). Even the organic farmers Chipotle tries to buy from are not small. And your comment “it’s great to have ethical fast food options” is one I am glad you made. I don’t have to watch this show to discuss that comment. It is the crux of the entire debate. Farmers that employ technology on a large scale are greedy and unethical whereas farmers that use less technology are ethical pure saints. This stereotype is one that bothers me and doesn’t add up to the family farmers I know in person.
I grew up on a farm, currently live in a rural community in Iowa, and personally know many farmers. I have zero issue with farmers making money, even lots of it. You completely miss the point of ethical farming – it has nothing to do with size or profit, rather the respect shown to the animals and land.
Annie, are you sure that your friends and family who are farmers would be considered “factory” farmers? Most of the local farmers around here that I know – while they may use GMO seed, fertilizer, pesticides, etc. – also house their animals much more humanely than the true industrial “factory” farms. The farmers I buy meat from in rural Kansas keep their cows in pastures. They aren’t 100% organic or grass fed because they do use grain from time to time to increase protein and other nutrients, but largely the cattle feed in the pasture and also on hay made from alfalfa or brome in the winter. They do occasionally use antibiotics, but only if a cow actually gets sick, not as an across the board measure. I can ask about the background of the specific animal I am going to be eating from. How old they are, what their history is, what they have or have not eaten or been treated with… and the farmer knows because he raised them from when they were calves.
When I purchase beef from these farmers, it gets processed in a small-town, local locker plant that usually employs anywhere from 5 to 10 people. The cattle are delivered just a day or so before they’re butchered, the slaughtering process is quick (no suffering) and the meat is processed and frozen right away. This is VERY DIFFERENT from the truly industrialized practices where animals are pictured packing into too small of places with rampant disease only controlled by over-use of antibiotics and butchering practices that take strong bacterial killers like formaldehyde, etc. to wash the meat in before it is sold because its so unclean.
Unfortunately – and I think this is one of the points you are trying to get at – farming is seldom black and white. Most farmers I know (my family included) live in the “gray” — they are small, family operations that do use modern techniques (ie. aren’t 100% organic, non-GMO, occasionally use antibiotics, pesticide, etc.) BUT, I trust the food they produce and I buy directly from them much more so than I trust meat and produce from the shelf in the store because I have first hand knowledge of it. My dad, for example, uses some pesticides in his garden at certain stages early in the growth process or the plants would not make it. He feels since it is before the produce have set on that it is a good compromise – we can still have garden raised food that is “cleaner” than what you can buy in the store, but isn’t 100% organic. I know my dad rotates his crops, and uses practices that return nutrients to the ground – like planting clover and plowing in organic matter – so I have confidence that the vegetables he raises have a high nutrient content, even though some of the seed may be genetically modified.
I guess what I am saying is that – correct me if I’m wrong – but I bet a lot of the farmers you know fall somewhere BETWEEN the two stereotypes of pristine organic glory and the profit-at-all-costs industrial monster corporations. They use some conventional, modern practices, but the food the produce overall is probably a lot better for you than what is offered by the huge corporations.
As far as Chipotle goes, I do appreciate being able to purchase quick, convenient food that is less processed and better for me than the average fast-food joint. Even IF their meat came from conventional farming practices, I would like that that it’s not coated in a bunch of junk and that most of their flavors come from whole foods and natural sources. Chipotle makes me happy because it’s delicious food I can feel good about eating. However, REAL food purists take issue with a lot of Chipotle’s hidden practices, so they’re not as guiltless as they portray themselves to be. They do not use all organic produce, some of their products contain hot-button ingredients, such as GMOs, preservatives and hydrogenated oils. Check out:
http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2013/09/chipotle-commercial-sustainable-food-truth
http://www.livestrong.com/article/399991-is-chipotle-healthy/
http://www.100daysofrealfood.com/2012/08/14/food-babe-investigates-chipotle-vs-moes/
And I agree with you that Chipotle should find a way to showcase their healthy-fast-food niche without attacking farmers. Check out how one blogger took Chipotle on for not transparently listing their ingredients and the amazing results that she got.
http://foodbabe.com/2013/03/24/a-food-babe-investigates-win-chipotle-posts-ingredients/
Now Chipotle can’t entirely hide behind all their glimmering marketing because you can go check out the dirt on their less-than-desirable ingredients. Sure, are they are superior choice to most fast food joints? DEFINITELY!!! But does their marketing paint a much prettier picture than reality? DEFINITELY!! That’s why consumers have to work so hard to be informed. We simply can’t completely trust what we are told in commercials or promos that are paid for by corporations who want us to buy their product, because what we see will never be the whole truth.
On another note, I think a lot of small-time farmers have an opportunity before them. It might take a little growing pain in the transition time to eliminate and exchange some of their practices for better ones, but if they can strategize on how to eliminate some less desirable practices, they could possibly find themselves in a position to offer sustainable products to the rapidly growing whole foods market. Some of them may be closer than they think. Any old farmer will tell you about all the ways they have had to re-invent themselves and their practices over the years. This is just a new focus with a new goal. Their costs may go up, but more and more people are willing to pay more for better food. Several local companies are already starting to go this way by selling meat or produce at farmer’s markets or local grocery and health foods stores. For example, Hildebrand Dairy and Ashland Dairy right here in Northeast Kansas.
http://www.hildebrandfarmsdairy.com/
http://www.ashlanddairy.com/
Farmers may find a new crop of customers growing up right in their own communities as people become more aware of some of the very real dangers of industrialized food production. Here’s a link to several Kansas-based farms who offer grass-fed, anti-biotic/chemical/hormone free meat and produce.
http://www.eatwild.com/products/kansas.html
I LOVE local farmers as people, as family, as friends – no matter what their practices may be. However, I also support infusing these producers with incentive to start thinking creatively about their production methods, and exchanging at least a few of the less-than-ideal practices with better options. We can then support their transition by being willing to pay a little more for a better, locally grown product. What’s even better is that it keeps our money in our local, small-town economies! I think there are potential benefits for everyone here – the local farmer included!
Looks like I accidentally started a blog post, lol… Go figure, this from your food writer!!