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See "Food, Inc." for free

Email|Link|Comments (20) Posted by Devra First July 6, 2009 11:29 AM

Chipotle is sponsoring free screenings of the movie at the Kendall Square Cinema on July 15 and the Coolidge Corner Theatre July 16, both at 7:30 p.m. It's first come, first served, so you might want to get there early.

"Food, Inc." is an expose of the nation's food industry and the degree to which it is controlled by corporate interests. If you've read the works of Eric Schlosser and Michael Pollan, there may not be much here that's new to you, but the footage is often powerful. It's a film worth seeing -- especially when it's free. More than that, it's a film worth taking others to: friends, parents, older kids (be prepared to cook vegetarian for a while).

Scenes involving meat production are particularly chilling -- early on, we watch a factory worker dispose of baby chick after baby chick as if they're widgets rather than living creatures. It's a small taste of what's to come, and that's where the Chipotle sponsorship comes in. The chain uses only naturally raised pork and chicken in the US, and more than 50 percent naturally raised beef; according to the company, it's the largest restaurant buyer of naturally raised meat in the country. It also uses rGBH-free cheese and sour cream. The sponsorship is a good business move -- after you see "Food, Inc.," you'll be thinking hard about what you, and all of us, eat.

Here's my recent interview with "Food, Inc." director Robert Kenner.

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20 comments so far...

The baby chick isn't being "disposed of" -- it's getting vaccinated and sexed before sorting.

Posted by Lilly July 6, 09 11:51 AM

Ummm, a corporate interest is sponsoring an expose of the food industry's corporate interests? Priceless.

Posted by Andrew July 6, 09 02:12 PM

How Ironic that Chipotle, which until recently was mostly owned by McDonalds, is sponsoring this movie. McDonalds must bear a large part of the responsiblity for the industrialization of food and one of their subsidiaries sponsors a movie that is designed to fight against what its parent company stands for.

Regardless of how damning this and other movies are to their target industries, it seems that the corporations just don't feel they are a threat to what they do. It just makes me realize how far away we are from ever balancing out the corporate domination of every aspect of our lives.

Posted by Jim July 6, 09 02:36 PM

"The chain uses only naturally raised pork and chicken in the US, and more than 50 percent naturally raised beef"

What in the world does 'naturally raised' mean? Chipotle is as bad as the rest.

Posted by Cole July 6, 09 02:48 PM

Props to them for sponsoring a free screening and making an attempt to be an ethical chain... yet beware "greenwashing"- the FDA has not established a formal definition for the term 'natural' so who knows what, if anything, makes Chipotle's meat sourcing preferable to any other large coroporate chain.

Posted by Kaydee July 6, 09 03:23 PM

I got sick at the Chipotle in Davis Square, so I think I'll skip this one.

Posted by Pierre July 6, 09 03:52 PM

Finally, looking forward to the film,

Posted by Laura July 6, 09 03:52 PM

Lilly: Oops! I guess that wouldn't make sense, would it? Still being sorted like a widget not a critter, though.

Here's how Chipotle defines "naturally raised":

For pigs: No antibiotics, ever. Letting pigs exhibit their natural behaviors in open pasture or deeply-bedded pens. Vegetarian feed with no animal by-products.

For chickens: Never be given antibiotics. Have more room to move about than in conventional chicken operations. Be vegetarian fed, never given animal by-products.

For cows: No added growth hormones, ever. No antibiotics, ever. Vegetarian feed with no animal by-products.

Posted by Devra First July 6, 09 06:41 PM

Chipolte rocks! Finally I can go to a food place and eat consciously! We need more places like this to shut down the factory farm operations.

Posted by marc July 6, 09 06:53 PM

@ Devra

"Have more room to move about in than in conventional chicken operations" really requires clarification. This should paint a clearer picture:

Page 172, Omnivore's Dilemma

http://books.google.com/books?id=Qh7dkdVsbDkC&pg=RA1-PA72&lpg=RA1-PA72&dq=omnivores+dilemma+chicken+access+to+outdoors&source=bl&ots=w7iszEx294&sig=lLzBozCz5Tnu4UB8Vqx1VEuanO8&hl=en&ei=To5SSq6vJIjiNeO2-OgI&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1

Posted by SPS July 6, 09 07:58 PM

So half the meat at Chipotle's is given hormones and antibiotics, and fed whatever mystery meat glop is cheapest that week? Yippee.... :| Andrew (comment#2) nailed it. Priceless...

Posted by Mark July 6, 09 07:59 PM

Chipotle isn't "as bad as the rest" if "the rest" includes restaurants that do not serve naturally-raised meats.

Posted by JD July 6, 09 08:16 PM

All of their animals are grain fed, which really isn't natural is it...

Posted by lee July 6, 09 08:26 PM

Yes, half the beef at Chipotle is given hormones and/or antibiotics, but it's not an arbitrary process. Some states have naturally-raised beef, others do not. If you really want to know if your local Chipotle serves naturally-raised beef, you can go to http://www.chipotle.com/#/flash/fwi_whats-where

Posted by JD July 6, 09 08:28 PM

McDonalds finished selling all of their shares in Chipotle in October 2006. Chipotle is now owned by shareholders which means that you can buy some stock and eat there to help your portfolio. Chipotle has never, EVER, released creative control of its model, menu, or supply line.
Every food dollar you spend is a vote.
Eat wisely.
Vote wisely.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IAAFI9WH_Mk&eurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.chipotle.com%2Fvideo%2Fnightline.html&feature=player_embedded

Posted by Mercury Roberts July 6, 09 11:41 PM

Posted by Mercury Roberts July 6, 09 11:47 PM

Mmmmm...meat...

Posted by Phil July 7, 09 11:53 AM

Chipotle is sponsoring screenings of Food Inc???!!! Oh they are so brazen in their hipocrisy! Or should I say Chipocrisy! If they respect the opinions of the film so much may they should listen to what director Robert Kenner and co-producer/narrator Eric Schlosser have demanded of THEM!

Kenner and Schlosser along with other leading food justice activists issued an open letter to Chipotle demanding that it take authentic steps to address the human rights crisis faced by farmworkers in Florida See the full letter here: http://www.ciw-online.org/letter_to_Chipotle.html and go to www.ciw-online.org to see how you can get involved.

Posted by Robert July 7, 09 12:39 PM

Even more ironic is that both Eric Schlosser and Robert Kenner, producer and director of the movie, signed a letter to Chipotle asking them to respect basic human rights in their produce supply chain!

Read the strongly worded letter here: http://www.ciw-online.org/letter_to_Chipotle.html

There's even a petition against them here: http://action.americanrightsatwork.org/campaign/chipotle

Posted by DJ July 7, 09 01:13 PM

It's hard to find that perfect burrito. So Chipotle buys meats from more humane ranchers and growers, but they exploit farm workers in Florida and, after all, they're not locally owned. Anna's Taqueria and Boca Grande are locally owned, but who knows where their meats come from? Boloco has naturally-raised meats (as well as compostable cups) but who knows if their supply chain respects basic human rights or not?

Posted by JD July 8, 09 04:03 PM