I’d known for a while that the Chipotle was working to use locally grown and raised produce and meats, but I missed until a tip from the iFarmer’s Twin led me to see on Ethicurean that sustainable farmer extraordiniare Joel Salatin was supplying one of the local chains.
According to the Washington Post, the Charlottesville Chipotle has been serving 100 percent Polyface Farm pork since March.
That progress came after a lot of collaboration, investment and patience spanning 17 months.
“There’s a huge cost to doing things this way,” one of the Chipotle bigwigs said. “We’re spending money to find out how and if we can bring small farmers with our values into the system.”
I am thrilled to see they’re working on the “how” and hope that the “if” is dropped from the equation as more people, like my family, get a taste for fresh, locally produced foods.
Salatin took his straw hat off to Chipotle, saying to the Post, “I’m honored to be part of an aggressive attempt to rewrite the food model.”
I haven’t seen any local farmers connected to Chicagoland Chipotles. If you know of any, please share.
A Chipotle map notes that all its restaurants in Illinois & Indiana serve naturally raised chicken and pork. Still no beef on the list in a good swath of the Midwest chain stores. However, naturally raised beef is served in the Chicago loop and Indianapolis restaurants.
Image is of Chipotle’s no ordinary beanstalk timeline. Cool. I’m now impressed and have no guilt eating there, especially since I got to see CSI’s William Peterson walk by while we were there this week.
Virtual Farmgirl 