Another attack on American Agriculture by Chipotle

[cbcr]

Not really sure where I should have posted this, but putting it here because this part of the forum gets about the most traffic.

Chipotle is at it again, they are attacking the American Farmer. Was watching This Week in Agribusiness http://agbizweek.com and Orion Samuelson in his Samuelson Sez commentary discussed it.

Just as he said, "we need to start a campaign to find out who the suppliers are to Chiptle and ask them to stop supplying Chipotle products."

Looked it up and here is the link to their new attack http://farmedanddangerous.com/.

We as AMERICAN FARMERS need to band together and become more proactive and stand up to blatant attacks from companies and groups.

If the products that are produced by AMERICAN FARMERS are so bad and unfit, then maybe Chipotle should close its doors so that these products can't be sold to consumers in a finished product.

 

[Dega Moo]

You are so right, they are attacking the American Farmer. I watched the trailer and got to say that I found it entirely offensive to be portrayed as a shined patent leather shoe wearing farmer in an Armani suit and working out of a chrome, glass and granite gleaming office building. Now what are those city folk gonna say when they pay those high prices for their groceries? They gonna blame our Armani's for sure. And ta think they'd feature a farmer's daughter looking like that.... did you see the dress she was wearing?? Wheweee!! Ain't no farmers daughters I know look like that, or dress like that. Now, maybe they could use her in a Chipotle ad, looks like a real hot pepper to me.

 

[3waycross]

I sure like the chicken idea :mrgreen:

 

[Craig]

Mmmmmm more wings!

 

[glacierridge]

Way to freak people out more on eating tasty animals.

 

[cbcr]

It makes responding and trying to get positive and TRUE information when the companies and groups that are spreading the FALSE information because they are so well funded.

Chipotle has tried to promote itself as serving food that is way superior to what the other food companies serve. But it was announced a few months ago that they were having a hard time procuring the food products that met their criteria and were having to resort to using more conventional products.

So, if this is the case and as the old adage goes of fighting fire with fire, what would be wrong with a campaign against Chipotle that they are serving inferior products that may affect the health of their customers? It is not a false claim, use their own words and put it in reverse. If you question this approach re-read the second paragraph.

 

[Dega Moo]

It makes responding and trying to get positive and TRUE information when the companies and groups that are spreading the FALSE information because they are so well funded.

Chipotle has tried to promote itself as serving food that is way superior to what the other food companies serve. But it was announced a few months ago that they were having a hard time procuring the food products that met their criteria and were having to resort to using more conventional products.

So, if this is the case and as the old adage goes of fighting fire with fire, what would be wrong with a campaign against Chipotle that they are serving inferior products that may affect the health of their customers? It is not a false claim, use their own words and put it in reverse. If you question this approach re-read the second paragraph.

Chipotle is practicing a time honored tradition in American Capitalism: marketing. They are targeting a consumer segment to be their customers and are trying to build a niche from which they can profit. They claim a difference in their raw materials. You would have them claim what?? "We're no different than any other run of the mill Mexican/TexMex/SouthWest restaurant. Our Margarita's are only so-so. We compete on price and price alone." Want to buy a franchise?

CBCR - There would be nothing intrinsically wrong for a Chipotle competitor taking Chipotle on directly over any claims made or even not made by Chipotle. But you personally? Were you so offended by the slap down of the American Farmer in 'Farmed and Dangerous' that you are willing to carry the battle to Chipotle? In case it wasn't clear, I thought the trailer for 'Farmed and Dangerous' was hilarious and in no manner an insult to American farmers or ranchers. It is a spoof, a parody of BiG ag and big business and unfettered capitalism. It's okay to laugh at that stuff and generally healthier than getting cranked by it.

 

[greybeard]

Had to ask wife what armani was. I thought it was some kind of baking soda or a brand of Italian hot dog.

 

[TexasBred]

Had to ask wife what armani was. I thought it was some kind of baking soda or a brand of Italian hot dog.

Suppose we can find some long john's in that brand??

 

[Dega Moo]

Of course you can. But: Would you? :)

 

[TexasBred]

Of course you can. But: Would you? :)

Not me. :shock:

 

[CKC1586]

Not really sure where I should have posted this, but putting it here because this part of the forum gets about the most traffic.
This was on eatocracy:
Chipotle is at it again, they are attacking the American Farmer. Was watching This Week in Agribusiness http://agbizweek.com and Orion Samuelson in his Samuelson Sez commentary discussed it.

Just as he said, "we need to start a campaign to find out who the suppliers are to Chiptle and ask them to stop supplying Chipotle products."

Looked it up and here is the link to their new attack http://farmedanddangerous.com/.

We as AMERICAN FARMERS need to band together and become more proactive and stand up to blatant attacks from companies and groups.

If the products that are produced by AMERICAN FARMERS are so bad and unfit, then maybe Chipotle should close its doors so that these products can't be sold to consumers in a finished product.

eatocracy article:
01:15 PM ET
Opinion: A farmer's challenge to Chipotle

Ryan Goodman has been involved in agriculture all of his life, working on ranches across the country, as well as studying cattle nutrition and reproduction at the college levels. He works daily with farmers and ranchers, helping their voices become part of the national dialogues on food and agriculture topics. You can reach him on Twitter @AgProudRyan, as well as his personal blog, AgricultureProud.com.

Farmers and ranchers are upset about how a burrito company is portraying their business. If you haven't seen them already, Chipotle has run a series of ads during the past few years centered around "Food With Integrity" and the idea that we can "Cultivate a Better World" by eating their burritos.

These ads depict modern food and livestock production through Chipotle's marketing eyes and as their spokespeople tell us, the motive is to raise awareness about learning more about where our food comes from. But does Chipotle practice what it preaches?

The Denver-based Chipotle Mexican Grill sets itself apart from most other chain restaurants by serving burritos with a side of buzzwords. Many of their ingredients are labeled natural, organic, and "Responsibly Raised" meat without antibiotics and Chipotle has even gone as far as labeling ingredients that may contain genetically modified organisms on their website. However, Chipotle has struggled with sourcing enough ingredients for their over 900 locations to meet those claims, leaving customers paying premium price for standard ingredients.

Chipotle's marketing campaigns rely on stirring up emotion with imagery that paints a bleak picture of a futuristic food system that is factory-like and systemic problems with nefarious and imagined solutions. Chipotle wants to stand out from other fast food chains by convincing their customers that eating at Chipotle will help fight the good fight against the ‘bad guys’. With everything from scarecrows to serenades by Willie Nelson, Chipotle captures the attention, and emotions, of their audiences with plenty of fear and misinformation.

For a company with gross sales over $3.2 billion last year, Chipotle touts themselves as champions for the little guy in the food supply. Maybe that is what is ironic about their most recent marketing campaign titled "Farmed and Dangerous", which portrays the greed and aggressiveness of a dark and industrial food chain. The four-part series, due to premiere solely on Hulu starting today, which features "PetroPellet" a fictitious petroleum product resulting in exploding cows, reportedly cost Chipotle $1 million in production.

According to Chipotle's chief marketing and development officer, Mark Crumpacker, the series is intended to be a satirical comedy that points out agriculture's aggressiveness to earn a profit, no matter the cost to animal health or well-being. While their over the top characters and exploding cows may be humorous, the underlying message has farmers concerned.

If the advertisement is meant solely as comedy, why go to such lengths to portray the petroleum feed, PetroPellet, as an actual product, complete with website and promotional videos for a fictitious company, Animoil, which only mentions Chipotle after a visitor digs around the site for more information?

Farmers and ranchers are not happy with the continued attack from Chipotle. With such a production budget and a marketing team that knows how to sell to emotions of the consuming audience, Chipotle continues to win over fans with information and portrayals that are much less than accurate of our modern food growers. If Chipotle is so adamant about getting us to learn more about where our food comes from, why spend millions on animations and comedies? Why not talk to actual farmers and ranchers who are on the ground and know more about growing food that marketing executives?

The national entities who are supposed to represent American farmers and ranchers, who are a likely target with Farmed and Dangerous, have done a poor job of representation and amplifying farmers' perspectives. Farmers and Ranchers do not have the marketing budget like Chipotle's, but they are working to share their perspectives, address the misinformation and form dialogues with consumers in their communities and across social media.

I send out a challenge to Chipotle's marketing team. There is no need to hide behind a satirical comedy series or paid actors. Practice what you preach to your audience. Go, seek out the farmers and ranchers producing our food and I do not just mean those growing your "Responsibly Raised", organic and natural products.

Go talk with the farmers and ranchers that you are attacking with your ad campaigns, start a dialogue and let the conversation come from both sides of the plate in order to learn where our food comes from. I am more than happy to help you if you will just stop the attacks on those growing our food.

Got a question for Ryan or any of our other farmers? Please share it below and we'll do our best to have a great conversation.

The opinions expressed are solely those of Ryan Goodman.

Previously:
When fields are frozen, there's still work to be done
Opinion: Farming in a fishbowl
Opinion: Where are the female and minority farmers?
Opinion: Why you should talk to farmers
Farmers aren't evil. Now can we have a civil conversation?
What should a 'local' farm (and farmer) look like?
What a farmer wants you to know about how beef gets to your plate

 

[Dega Moo]

I'm happy for Mr. Goodman as he appears to have found his niche shilling against companies he apparently believes, or at least says, are attacking American farmers. Mr. Goodman is marketing his schtick in pursuit of readers, eyeballs and tweet followers and he does so by attempting to stir controversy and righteous indignation in his followers, and would be followers. The path he takes is worn well and deep by many honorable writers and entertainers. His prose is fairly entertaining. I wish him success at his endeavors.

I'm personally though having difficulty achieving any degree of righteous indignation over Chipotle, McDonalds, Panera or Chick-Fil-A for their attempts to differentiate the restaurant consumer, to satisfy that consumer, to shape a market they can dominate. I find it a sign of a healthy free market, capitalism at its best.

Consider this - Is Chick-Fil-A guilty of a faux pas for insinuating that eating beef - cows - is intrinsically less humane than eating chicken? As a beef producer, should I muster some indignation and call "fowl"?

Those selling 'healthy alternatives', particularly antibiotic free meat are adding a third choice "antibiotic free meat' to the two choices "meat from antibiotic fed animals' and the traditional second choice of "no meat at all". As a cow calf operator I personally prefer another alternative to 'no meat at all'.

 

[TexasBred]

I'm happy for Mr. Goodman as he appears to have found his niche shilling against companies he apparently believes, or at least says, are attacking American farmers. Mr. Goodman is marketing his schtick in pursuit of readers, eyeballs and tweet followers and he does so by attempting to stir controversy and righteous indignation in his followers, and would be followers. The path he takes is worn well and deep by many honorable writers and entertainers. His prose is fairly entertaining. I wish him success at his endeavors.

I'm personally though having difficulty achieving any degree of righteous indignation over Chipotle, McDonalds, Panera or Chick-Fil-A for their attempts to differentiate the restaurant consumer, to satisfy that consumer, to shape a market they can dominate. I find it a sign of a healthy free market, capitalism at its best.

Consider this - Is Chick-Fil-A guilty of a faux pas for insinuating that eating beef - cows - is intrinsically less humane than eating chicken? As a beef producer, should I muster some indignation and call "fowl"?

Those selling 'healthy alternatives', particularly antibiotic free meat are adding a third choice "antibiotic free meat' to the two choices "meat from antibiotic fed animals' and the traditional second choice of "no meat at all". As a cow calf operator I personally prefer another alternative to 'no meat at all'.

Very well put. ;-) :clap:

 

[greybeard]

Only in the phony world of PC could anyone figure out a way to make a dang burrito come off as some sort of health food.........comparatively speaking of course.

(yes I'm adding my voice to those like Mr. Goodman, Dega Moo and millions of others seeking an internet audience.)

 

[ar_ranchhand]

I'm happy for Mr. Goodman as he appears to have found his niche shilling against companies he apparently believes, or at least says, are attacking American farmers. Mr. Goodman is marketing his schtick in pursuit of readers, eyeballs and tweet followers and he does so by attempting to stir controversy and righteous indignation in his followers, and would be followers. The path he takes is worn well and deep by many honorable writers and entertainers. His prose is fairly entertaining. I wish him success at his endeavors.

Thanks for the opinion of me? Sorry if you think I'm just out for the viewership and followers. Honestly, many days I'd be happy to do without it, but most of the time I am thankful for the opportunity to have an audience that is willing to hear more about the things I'm most passionate about - which is the ranching community. I use this quite often to direct people to other farmers and ranchers who are doing great jobs engaging in the conversations and dialogues with consumers.

As for calling out Chipotle, you bet I take issue with their use of fear mongering to sell burritos. I'd rather not call attention to their deceitful practices, but it seems quite a few consumers find their messages filled with misinformation to be true. What's the saying, something about once a lie is repeated so many times, it's perceived as fact? Farmers and ranchers involved in the hot topics on social media are trying to join the conversation on platforms where consumers can be reached and show there there is more than one side to the stories they're hearing.

 

[Dega Moo]

Mr. Goodman, I presume?
Besides being an outlet for our personal passions I think a common measure of blogging success is exposure, readers, followers and other things like that, otherwise, it's a diary. It's not a bad thing to want or strive for those achievements. You have every reason to be proud of your success. I do admire you for that success.

Of course you didn't use ‘schtick’ or ‘schilling’ in your blog, but certainly those words fit, very well, your description of Chipotle's efforts. And clearly you were accusing Chipotle of stirring controversy and indignation, in their customer base, over farmers operating methods and materials. I think you call them deceits. Forgive me please, for saying about your efforts, your words, what you were saying about Chipotle's efforts.

Where you see a deceitful, fear mongering company, I see a corporation taking advantage of a consumer segment having a perception, maybe a fixation, on their health and the relationship of the food they eat, to that health. While you may believe, even know, that some of those beliefs are flat out wrong, that consumer segment doesn't agree with you. If they find solace eating at Chipotle's, if Chipotle can meet that need, even develop it, they are practicing the cherished fundamental of our Democracy, Capitalism.

I run a cow calf operation. I sell stockers and feeders and a few fats for our family consumption. I have customers who want to buy freezer beef and some want it to be grass fed and some want beef that never got antibiotics. I direct them all to a young nearby family farm that purchases most of their feeders from me with the express purpose of filling those specific needs. They advertise their beef as antibiotic free, as healthy beef. What's the difference in what this family farm does and Chipotle? Am I guilty of selling out the American farmer supporting this families business? There are many family farms doing something similar. Are they not part of the farm community of which you’re so passionate?

Many restaurants offer a menu with maybe a vegetarian selection, a gluten free selection, an antibiotic free entree but the rest of the menu is an offering of more traditional carnivore fare. Is that okay? If it's okay, is there a line to be drawn? How much of the menu can cater to these anti-farm folks before that restaurant becomes, like Chipotle, deceitful and anti-farm?

Is grass fed beef okay? Can grass fed beef producers say there is less cholesterol in an ounce of grass fed beef than in grain fed beef? How about that doctor somewhere who says his heart patients can eat all the longhorn beef they want cause it has better fat than....Hey - I raise black Angus beef, some of the best in the area, I mean, what the heck?

What about Chick-Fil-A? As far as I’m concerned these guys really got it coming. Not only are they promising no antibiotic chicken, their ads insinuate, strongly imply eating hamburger is inhumane but it's okay to eat chicken. How do they get away with that!!!!!!? And they advertise during the Super Bowl. As a rancher, doesn't that disturb you?

Farmed and Dangerous. I kept looking for an actual farmer portrayal in the trailer and the first segment. Didn't find any. None I'd recognize. Guy with the cowboy hat, owner of Animoil: all hat and shortly after the segment starts, no cows. The whole thing is way over the top, hilarious and despite some evidence from CT Forum, I can't believe a sentient being could take the film or the websites seriously. Animoil doesn't spoof or make fun of family farms, it spoofs the big feed and drug companies like Purina or Pfizer.

In the interests of absolute full disclosure: I do not own stock in Chipotle’s or Chick-Fil-A. I’ve had a Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich several years ago while traveling but never been in one of their restaurants. I’ve never eaten at Chipotle’s nor have I eaten carry out from Chipotle’s. There are none near where I live. In fact there’s nothing near where I live. I defend capitalism at every chance, you might say it’s one of my passions.

 

[John SD]

I ate at Chipotle in OH once. Won't be doing so again. That's actually easy to do since there are no Chipotle restaurants around here anyway.

Yesterday my sister and I ate at Pancheros. I had certificates I bought on radio auction.

I also have Qdoba certicates. I hope there is no dark side of these chain restaurants that I am unaware of.

The food and service were good at Pancheros and I will go back again given the opportunity.

 

[Dega Moo]

I ate at Chipotle in OH once. Won't be doing so again. ......

Mind sharing why?

 

[sim.-ang.king]

Mr. Goodman, I presume?
Besides being an outlet for our personal passions I think a common measure of blogging success is exposure, readers, followers and other things like that, otherwise, it's a diary. It's not a bad thing to want or strive for those achievements. You have every reason to be proud of your success. I do admire you for that success.

Of course you didn't use ‘schtick’ or ‘schilling’ in your blog, but certainly those words fit, very well, your description of Chipotle's efforts. And clearly you were accusing Chipotle of stirring controversy and indignation, in their customer base, over farmers operating methods and materials. I think you call them deceits. Forgive me please, for saying about your efforts, your words, what you were saying about Chipotle's efforts.

Where you see a deceitful, fear mongering company, I see a corporation taking advantage of a consumer segment having a perception, maybe a fixation, on their health and the relationship of the food they eat, to that health. While you may believe, even know, that some of those beliefs are flat out wrong, that consumer segment doesn't agree with you. If they find solace eating at Chipotle's, if Chipotle can meet that need, even develop it, they are practicing the cherished fundamental of our Democracy, Capitalism.

I run a cow calf operation. I sell stockers and feeders and a few fats for our family consumption. I have customers who want to buy freezer beef and some want it to be grass fed and some want beef that never got antibiotics. I direct them all to a young nearby family farm that purchases most of their feeders from me with the express purpose of filling those specific needs. They advertise their beef as antibiotic free, as healthy beef. What's the difference in what this family farm does and Chipotle? Am I guilty of selling out the American farmer supporting this families business? There are many family farms doing something similar. Are they not part of the farm community of which you’re so passionate?

Many restaurants offer a menu with maybe a vegetarian selection, a gluten free selection, an antibiotic free entree but the rest of the menu is an offering of more traditional carnivore fare. Is that okay? If it's okay, is there a line to be drawn? How much of the menu can cater to these anti-farm folks before that restaurant becomes, like Chipotle, deceitful and anti-farm?

Is grass fed beef okay? Can grass fed beef producers say there is less cholesterol in an ounce of grass fed beef than in grain fed beef? How about that doctor somewhere who says his heart patients can eat all the longhorn beef they want cause it has better fat than....Hey - I raise black Angus beef, some of the best in the area, I mean, what the heck?

What about Chick-Fil-A? As far as I’m concerned these guys really got it coming. Not only are they promising no antibiotic chicken, their ads insinuate, strongly imply eating hamburger is inhumane but it's okay to eat chicken. How do they get away with that!!!!!!? And they advertise during the Super Bowl. As a rancher, doesn't that disturb you?

Farmed and Dangerous. I kept looking for an actual farmer portrayal in the trailer and the first segment. Didn't find any. None I'd recognize. Guy with the cowboy hat, owner of Animoil: all hat and shortly after the segment starts, no cows. The whole thing is way over the top, hilarious and despite some evidence from CT Forum, I can't believe a sentient being could take the film or the websites seriously. Animoil doesn't spoof or make fun of family farms, it spoofs the big feed and drug companies like Purina or Pfizer.

In the interests of absolute full disclosure: I do not own stock in Chipotle’s or Chick-Fil-A. I’ve had a Chick-Fil-A chicken sandwich several years ago while traveling but never been in one of their restaurants. I’ve never eaten at Chipotle’s nor have I eaten carry out from Chipotle’s. There are none near where I live. In fact there’s nothing near where I live. I defend capitalism at every chance, you might say it’s one of my passions.

I think your missing the fact that nobody is saying it's wrong to sell antibiotic free meat, or what ever kind of meat, it's wrong to try to make the public believe that there is something wrong with a product, by using falsified facts, and fear. I'm a capitalist as they come (even shop at wal-mart, buy from the "big" feed company purina, and use Pfizer meds), but using fear, and lies to sell a product is wrong no matter what social standing you have, or who is doing it. :tiphat: