Chipotle's "Fair Food fail" back in the spotlight!

 


April 2, 2012 - After six years of refusing to sign a Fair Food agreement with the CIW, fast-casual restaurant chain Chipotle is back in the news again as food writers have once again begun to call out the company's intransigence. (In case you need a quick primer on the Chipotle campaign, check out this great article from grist.org published in December 2009; it's just as relevant today as it was at the time it was written.)

Spearheading this recent wave of journalism is the Perennial Plate, who produced the moving video above ("The other side of the tomato, 3/25/12):

It is especially surprising that Chipotle, the one corporation whom you would assume would be at the forefront of workers rights issues, is distancing themselves. They promote the integrity of their food and practices more than anyone — so the fact that they wont partner with CIW in adopting the Fair Food Principles is especially baffling....

The thing is, farmworkers rights are a very important, but overlooked issue. Despite all the news as of late, consumers very often dont consider those people who are picking the majority of our food. By working with CIW, Chipotle would be bringing to light something that is so important. That’s what Daniel told Chris Arnold, Communications Director & Official Spokesman for Chipotle, when we met last week at the Edible Conference in Santa Barbara: “Whether or not you are compliant with the standards that CIW puts forward, the public needs a governing force. We buy fair trade coffee, not because its perfect, but because it sets a standard. By working with CIW, you would be making people aware of the farmworkers who are bring us our food.” read more

Stay tuned for more developments, and in the meantime, don't miss these other great articles from the Chipotle front in the Campaign for Fair Food!