Food With Integrity

Yesterday was President’s Day, which is considered a company holiday where I work. Because we have to use hours from our Paid Time Off bank for holidays, I decided to save the eight hours for another time and come in to work.

The lunchtime cafeteria choices were limited, so my boss and I decided to eat at Chipotle (a fast food chain similar to Baja Fresh or Qdoba). I was checking their website for nutritional information and came across some pleasantly surprising information.

Chipotle buys their meat only from vendors who raise their animals in humane conditions. For example, their pork products are from farmers who raise pigs in an open, spacious environment instead of factory-style farms where the pigs are crowded together so tightly they can barely move. (I read a disturbing, in-depth exposé on pig farms about a year and a half ago, and have avoided pork as much as possible ever since). Additionally, all of Chipotle’s pork, chicken, and beef comes from animals that are “naturally raised” and fed a vegetarian diet, with no animal by-products or antibiotics.

Wouldn’t it be interesting to see how Taco Bell compares?