Chipotle, everyone’s favorite burrito place, hasn’t always been the restaurant it is today. Before the company became independent, it was owned by the corporate big wigs at McDonald’s. After Chipotle broke off from McDonald’s in 2006, the company had a change of heart and health.
After a few years of adjustment, the corporation released the news to the public with a brand new advertisement, a commercial that follows the story of a Pixar-like scarecrow in pursuit of bringing homegrown food to a robotic, factory-farmed world. This image was the beginning of a new foundation for the company, aiming to sell the idea of fresh and nutritious food to its customers.
In a Sept. 25, 2013 article following the release of the commercial, Mother Jones criticized the advertisements and the company’s vagueness, searching for answers on its stance on modern health and agricultural concerns, including the use of genetically modified organisms (GMO’s) and locally grown produce, where the meat is coming from and what the animals had been eating.
Since then, Chipotle has released its current mission statement: “Food with integrity is our commitment to finding the very best ingredients raised with respect for animals, the environment and the farmers.” The company also launched pages on its website summarizing its position on respectful and nutritional eating. These summaries highlight the proper care of each ingredient and the importance of using more local, fresh and organically grown produce. Chipotle also makes note of its aggressive protest of factory farming.
Today, Chipotle’s latest contribution to its customers’ health came out through its nutritional calculator, now available for customer use on its website. The calculator allows users to plug in their typical burrito order and receive a calorie count.
On average, Chipotle’s burritos have roughly 1200-1600 calories. One Chipotle burrito is the equivalent to eating two McDonald’s Big Macs, two medium fries and two drinks. It’s crazy to think that with all the health precautions Chipotle has taken for better ingredients, that it is still serving up more calories than the average McDonald’s meal.
At first glance, these comparative calorie counts give the impression that McDonald’s is actually the healthier of the two options. However, that’s not necessarily true due in part to the differentkinds of calories the foods contain.
McDonald’s food and drinks contain mostly fatty empty calories. Chipotle, on the other hand, is attempting to provide the body with the calories that it wants, making it the healthier choice of the two, despite the higher calorie count.
Chipotle is one of the fast food places around that is fine in my book. There are a ton of worse options out there. Home-cooked meals and foods from non-chain restaurants can be worse than eating Chipotle. Most people, including mothers, cook with a lot of love. With a lot of love comes a
lot of fatty foods like butter, bread and potatoes – the list goes on.
No matter what is done people will still blame fast food chains like Chipotle for being the reason they’re unhealthy, rather than taking responsibility for the choices they are making.
Fast food chains have every right to sell any product they please, no matter how unhealthy. What is necessary is providing safe food and nutritional information so consumers can make informed decisions.
This is why companies like Chipotle should be celebrated. Chipotle understands the idea of choices and is making it harder for people to make bad ones. It is providing healthy options and transparency in regards to its ingredients and their origins.
Sadly, the average American really doesn’t care about the food he or she is eating. The average American cares about taste, quantity and timeliness. Chipotle burritos are a delicious, filling meal that is made quickly and with healthy options. It’s refreshing to see big corporations like Chipotle finding that balance between quantity and quality. It’s businesses like this that prosper. They care about health, so the average American doesn’t have to.