McDonalds Farm to Fork?

So my last post was about fast food chain Chipotle who is doing some really awesome stuff with organic and locally grown foods.Their commitment to creating a healthier agriculture and food system makes me a bit angry when I think about McDonald’s new greenwashing campaign. The guys over at Grist first turned me on to this new campaign. Check out a couple of the videos and read their article:

Grist already tackled the potatoes video, so I figured I’d give my opinion on their beef supplier. Let me start by saying that these commercials are very well done. Not quite as good as the Chipotle video I love, but still very well done. They make it seem like all their beef comes from this nice family run farm where the grandfather teaches his grandsons the family business and your cows roam free and are as happy as can be well until they go into your burger at least. I do believe that this farm supplies McDonalds, but I highly doubt all of their beef suppliers are similar to this. As Grist points out most of the carbon content of fast-food beef comes from corn (check out this Scientific American article). So I suppose documentaries like King Corn and Food Inc. might not be unfair attacks on the fast-food industry.

My problem with this is that McDonalds is basically insulting everything Chipotle is doing by pretending to care about more than the bottom line. Although, it seems like customers aren’t tricked into loving McDonalds after their recent Twitter backlash where the company was abused after trying to create a positive trending topic. Perhaps they got what they deserved, we’re not stupid.

 

Chipotle’s Back to The Start Video Makes an Impression

I know that I am a bit late with this video, but I enjoyed it so much that I thought I would share it again. I watched it a few weeks ago when it hit YouTube and became fairly popular.  Unfortunately I have to admit that I had never been to a Chipotle before this video. Many of my friends had talked about how much they loved Chipotle but not being a die hard Mexican food or fast food fan in general I never felt the pull to visit a Chipotle. Then I saw the following video.

Beyond how downright cute this video is and how awesome Willie Nelson cover Coldplay’s “The Scientist” was the video stands out for its message alone. I had not realized that Chipotle was so dedicated to organic and local food. So I decided to do some research to see if they were just greenwashing or really making a commitment.

Not only is the company committed to sourcing all their food from local and organic suppliers, but they have now created The Chipotle Cultivate Foundation to work with producers, farmers, and ranchers to expand the production of healthier and more natural foods. I have to say, I was downright impressed with Chipoltl and also disappointed that I have never heard about their sustainability goals until now. Most companies that I look at only approach sustainability from the surface for PR reasons. Well Chipotle has ingrained it in their business model and is working to expand their goals beyond their own company. To me this is an impressive feat that will garner them more support than any greenwashing would have.

Also disapointing me? That I had never tasted one of their supposedly fantastic tasting and good for the environment burritos before. So I set out to rectify that problem, and lo and behold it was delicious. I look forward to seeing what Chipotle does next with its impressive goals, and I look forward to more burritos in my future.

Here’s a few of my favorite articles I discovered:

http://www.sustainablebusiness.com/index.cfm/go/news.display/id/22844

http://www.good.is/post/the-ethical-burrito-chipotle-makes-fast-food-nation-sustainable/

http://articles.latimes.com/2011/oct/13/business/la-fi-chipotle-20111013

Welcome

Welcome to my blog. I will be using this blog to write posts for my Changing Global Consumer Culture and New Media class at the University of Richmond. I have yet to pick a theme for my blog but my main interests lie within the realm of sustainability and the environment. So I will most likely be writing about consumer choices and marketing that is related to sustainability or “green” products and services. Expect more to come soon and I hope you will enjoy.