Last week, there was a bit of a ripple in the headlines
concerning Chipotle’s stance on “responsibly raised” meat. First, Bloomberg News
ran a story announcing Chipotle may change its position on naturally raised
beef (http://ow.ly/o29wy). According to the
article, supplies are tight and the big chain is contemplating purchasing beef
that has been treated with antibiotics.
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| Was this beef from an animal treated with antibiotics? Don't know, don't care. |
But, the Denver-based fast food chain countered with an
article in the Denver Post a day later stating their standards have not changed
(http://ow.ly/o2ap6). However, according to
the Denver Post, “The company did say it's considering tweaking its
"responsibly raised" meat standards to allow meat from animals that
have been given antibiotics to treat illnesses.”
The executive that was quoted in the Denver Post added that
they have naturally raised beef about 85 percent of the time and that 15
percent of the time, due to beef shortages, they are forced to use
conventionally raised beef – i.e. beef that could have been treated with
antibotics at one point in time of its life. Stores that are forced to use this
conventionally raised beef post signs stating the situation so customers are
aware of the switch for the day. Note, from what I could read, the company will
not allow meat from animals that have been given antibiotics to prevent illness
or promote growth.
So here’s the caveat. From what I can tell, Chipotle is
saying that is that it’s okay for them to possibly serve meat from animals that
have been sick – but never from those that have been treated to remain healthy.
So how does this work? Animal gets sick. Animal gets treated. Producer waits
the proper withholding time according to the label before shipping said animal
off to market.
Do you want to eat that meat? I think not. I, quite honestly,
would prefer to have meat that has been treated to prevent disease. What are
your thoughts on this? Do you think this was a PR blunder by Chipotle? Have
they lost customers?
Cheri, have you ever listened to calves bawl after weaning? Well, not long after the bawling ends, the coughing starts. That's typically when I give them antibiotics in their feed. If you don't then, the next time may be too late because of pneumonia. Maybe Chipoltle would like to buy the dead bloated carcasess (sp?) instead. After all, they would be all natural.
ReplyDeleteI know, it's much along the lines of vaccinating your kids. I'm all for choice though. I think that those that want to eat naturally raised beef should - but they should also recognize the cost that goes with it. I think that's where Chipotle checked out - rather than raising prices so they could properly source their meat, they opted to look at changing their policy. My guess is they're thinking they will lose fewer customers with a change in policy vs. a change in price.
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